
aass_LLiil_5i 

Book_X-^5— — 
Gop}TightN°_ 

COEffilGHT DEPOSIT. 



MODERN EDUCATION IN EUROPE 
AND THE ORIENT 



IHome an^ Scfjool Series 

Edited by PAUL MONROE 



Curtis: Education through Play. 

Curtis: The Practical Conduct of Play. 

Cjtrtis : The Play Movement and its Significance. 

Cloyd: Modern Education in Europe and the 
Orient. 

Howerth : The Art of Education. 

Kilpatrick: Froebel's Kindergarten Principles 
Critically Examined. 



MODERN EDUCATION 



IN 



EUROPE AND THE ORIENT 



BY ^ 

DAVID ErCLOYD, Ph.B., M.A. 



PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY 

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION 

DES MOINES COLLEGE, DES MOINES, IOWA 



THE MACMILLAN' COMPANY 
1917 

jill rights reserved 



v>^ 






Copyright, 1917, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1917. 



Xorfasooti ^xies 

J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



Q OCT -4 19(7 

{J 

©G1.A476467 

n ^ / 



PREFACE 

The purpose of this book, "Modern Education in Europe 
and the Orient," is to present to the Normal School and 
College student a simple, clear, and comprehensive statement 
of what the countries treated are doing through their educa- 
tional systems to better society. The method of study sur- 
veys the practical workings of the several school systems 
rather than the scientific principles underlying particular 
phases of education. It accepts and apphes the familiar 
conclusions of the many writers who have treated exten- 
sively such topics as humanism, rationalism, realism, natural- 
ism, individualism, etc., without making these theories prom- 
inent in the discussions. In other words, the text attempts 
to present each government and society at work, in the re- 
construction of its passing school system to meet the chang- 
ing demands of to-day and to-morrow. In this respect, the 
problem of each nation is shown to be the same. Out of this 
similarity of national conditions and the oneness of national 
purposes it is hoped that the student will find suggestions of 
things to do and not to do in the development of the educa- 
tional system of his own country. 

At no time in the history of society has the educational 
system occupied the central position in social institutions so 
completely as it has during the past fifty years. Each indi- 
vidual, each vocation, and each institution is looking to the 
educational system for strength and guidance. 



vi Preface 

The spirit of cooperation characterizes the work of all 
these nations. All institutions of society are working to- 
gether for the individual and common good as never before 
known. Private initiative is welcomed and encouraged by 
the state. Through systems of state aid and standardization, 
private and denominational schools are coming into har- 
monious relations with the state systems. And by a broaden- 
ing spirit of religious toleration, the state is being left free to 
foster phases of education that fit all types of individuals for 
social and economic efficiency. 

Vocational education is everywhere winning its way into 
the curriculum to supply what the traditional subjects have 
never been able to give. Continuation classes and schools 
for adolescents and adults are multiplying in urban and rural 
districts. The application of science to the development of 
rural industries is helping to keep the rural population con- 
tented and happy and away from the city. Technical edu- 
cation, for the training of leaders in commercial and industrial 
pursuits, is stimulating the development of the resources of 
the nation. Closer political and commercial relations between 
the nations are driving them to study each other's means of 
training their citizens for rivalry in peaceful and martial 
pursuits. * 

The higher technical training of teachers and the fuller 
recognition of teaching as one of the learned professions is 
drawing a higher type of men and women into the work of 
education. The compulsory school laws that protect chil- 
dren from industrial exploitation and society from an unedu- 
cated and inefficient citizenship are filling up the schools and 
calling for an enormous expenditure of public and private 
funds. 



Preface vii 

The state is modifying its government so as to make more 
efficient the local and state control of the organization and 
administration of education to guarantee the greatest social 
returns. 

These, in brief, are the problems, the movements, the 
methods, and the social aims, to which this text is designed to 
direct the interest and attention of the student of modern 
education. 

For information about these educational systems, the 
author acknowledges his indebtedness to the sources named 
in the bibliographies listed in the text, and also to many not 
listed. He is likewise indebted to many professors of educa- 
tion and history, with whom he has discussed freely the dif- 
ferent phases of this book. 

Another valuable aid to the author has been criticisms of 
the manuscripts on the different systems, by prominent for- 
eigners from these different countries, whom he has met in 
educational work in the United States. A year and a half, 
spent by the author as inspector of schools in the Southern 
States for the General Education Board, and eight years as 
instructor of College classes in the History of Education, have 
been of value to him in drawing comparisons between the 
foreign systems and that of the United States, and in adapting 
the treatment to class use with college students. 

For those engaged in the administration of county, state, 
and institutional systems of education, the book should 
have much of interest and value. 

It is with pleasure and appreciation that the author 
acknowledges the assistance of Dr. Paul Monroe, with 
whom, for a year, he was a student in the History of 
Education. 



viii Preface 

While the merits of the book are due to many sources, its 
defects are due solely to the author. 

Finally, if the reader finds the book of interest and value, 
he is indebted to my wife, whose intelligent criticism and 
constant encouragement have made the completion of the 
work possible. 



DAVID E. CLOYD 



Des Moines College, 

Des Moines, Iowa, 

March lo, 1917, 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 
ENGLAND 

FACE 

The Government — Transition from the Old Education to the New — 
Present English School System — Administration of Education — 
Pictogram of School System — Special Subjects — Secondary Edu- 
cation — " Great Public Schools " — The Training of Teachers — Ex- 
aminations for Certificates — Teachers' Annuities — Technical Edu- 
cation — The English Universities — The Rhodes Scholarships — 
Rural Education — Religion and Education — Topics for Further 
Study — Special Bibliography i 

CHAPTER n 

SCOTLAND 

The Government — Administration of Education — Special Features of 
the Old Scottish Schools — The Present Scottish System of Schools 
— Primary Education — Intermediate Schools — Supplementary 
Classes — Higher Grade Schools — Continuation Classes — Secon- 
dary Education — Types of Secondary Schools — Articulation 
with the Universities — School Statistics — General Welfare of 
Children — Training of Teachers — Technical Education — Scot- 
tish Universities — Women in the Universities — Carnegie Trust 
Grants — The Kirk and Education — Topics for Further Study — 
Bibliography 6i 

CHAPTER HI 

FRANCE 

The Government — The Administration of Education — Specialization 
versus Centralization — Primary Education — Secondary Educa- 
tion — Types of Secondary Schools — The Baccalaureate — Girls' 



Table of Contents 



PAGE 



Diplomas — Teachers in Secondary Schools — Trade and Technical 
Education — Agricultural Education — The Practical Schools of 
Commerce and Industry — Higher Education — The Universities — 
The Normal Schools — Pensions — Critical Condition Regarding 
Primary Teachers — Religious Education — Education in the French 
Colonies — Present Tendencies in French Education — Topics for 
Further Study — Special Bibliography 92 

CHAPTER IV 

GERMANY 

The Government — The Empire — State Governments — Administration 
of Education — State Control of Education — Local Control of 
Education — Compulsory Education — Kindergarten and Bewahran- 
stalten — The Volksschule — Problem of Overcrowded Classes — 
Whe Mittelschule — Gymnasium — Other Types of Secondary 
Schools — The Lyzeum — StUdienanstalt — The Reifepriifung — 
The Training of Teachers — Elementary Teachers — Lehrerseminar 

— For Vocational Schools — Secondary Teachers — Gymnasial 
Seminars — The Oberlehrer — Industrial Education — Continuation 
Schools — Special Trade Schools — Engineering and Scientific 
Schools — German Universities — The Culture Caste — The 
Student and His Life — New University at Frankfort — Recog- 
nition of American Bachelor Degree — Women in the Universities , 

— Religious and Moral Instruction — Critical Conditions in Ger- 
man Education — War and Education — German Influence on Amer- 
ican Education — Topics for Further Study — Special Bibliography 129 



CHAPTER V 

SWITZERLAND 

History — The Government — Plan of School Administration — National 
Ideals Influencing Education — Pictograms of Swiss School System 

— Educational Statistics — • Elementary Schools — Secondary Schools 

— Commercial Education — Agricultural Education — Training of 
Teachers — Universities and Polytechnic Institute — Compulsory 
Education for Apprentices — Religious Education — Topics for 
Further Study — Special Bibliography 169 



Table of Conitnts xi 



CHAPTER VI 
HOLLAND 

PAOK 

The Government. — Geography and Population — Administration of 
Education — Elementary Education — Secondary Schools — 
Higher Education — The Normal Schools — Control of Religious 
Education — Support of Education — Holland's Colonial Policy 

— Education in Netherlands-India — Types of Dutch Schools 

— Infant Schools — Primary Schools — Continuation Schools — 
Intermediate Schools — Elementary and Secondary School Statistics 

— Higher Education — The Gymnasia — The Dutch Universities 

— Technical Education — Trade Schools — Industrial Schools for 
Girls — Schools of Commerce — Polytechnic Schools — Agricultural 
Education — Itinerary Classes for Rural Industrial Education — 
Religious Education — The Training of Teachers — Salaries and 
Pensions — Topics for Further Study — Special Bibliography . . 193 

CHAPTER VII 
DENMARK 

Introduction — Geography and Population — History and Government 

— Industries — The Danish People — General Plan of School Or- 
ganizations — Coordination of Parts of the System — Pictogram of 
the Danish School System, 1914 — The Primary School (Folkeskole) 

— Secondary Schools — Historic Development — The Middle School 
(Mellemskole) — Gymnasium — Relation to Higher Schools — The 
People's High School (Folkehojskoler) — The School Year — Com- 
pulsory' Attendance — Prominence Given to Music — Physical Train- 
ing of Teachers — Teachers' Pensions — The Problem of Coeducation 

— Religion and Religious Instruction — Provision for the Defective 

— Polytechnic and Professional Schools — The University of Copen- 
hagen — Topics for Further Study — Special Bibliography . .227 

CHAPTER VIII 

NORWAY 

History — Her Government — The People and Their Language — Plan 
of School Control — Pictogram of School System — The Primary 
Schools — Rural and City — The Middle Schools — The Gymna- 



xii Table of Contents 

PAGE 

sium — The University — The'Training of Teachers — Agricultural 
Education — Rural Education for Adults — Folk High School 

— Workingmen's Colleges — Technical Education — Continuation 
Schools of Secondary Rank — The Problem of Coeducation — Moral 
and Religious Education — Private Initiative in Norwegian Edu- 
cation — Topics for Further Study — Special Bibliography . . 260 

CHAPTER IX 

SWEDEN 

Geography and Industries — Historic Sketch — The Government — Or- 
ganization of Education — Pictogram of the Swedish School System 

— Administration of Education — The Elementary Schools — Sec- 
ondary Education — People's High Schools — Teachers' Training 
Schools — The Higher Institutions — Schools for Abnormals — Popu- 
lar Education — Course of Study — Continuation Schools — Pro- 
posed Reorganization of Elementary Education — Genesis of the 
Secondary Schools — Girls' Secondary Schools — Boys' Secondary 
Schools — Higher Education — Number and Character of Institu- 
tions — Upsala — Degrees — Faculty and Students — Technical 
Education — Special Types of School Work — For Crippled Chil- 
dren — Workshops for Children — School Gardens — Swedish Gym- 
nastics — Sloyd — Domestic Economy — Vacation Colonies — 
Neglected Children — Temperance Education — People's High 
Schools — Religious Education — Topics for Further Study — 
Special Bibliography 296 

CHAPTER X 

JAPAN 

Her History — Geography and Industries — Her Government — The 
Ancient System of Education — Education under the Early Feudal 
Regime — Education under Buddhist Domination — Education 
under Military Control ^ Transition to Modern Education — Picto- 
gram of Japanese School System — Modern Education — The Ad- 
ministration of Education — The Kindergarten — Elementary Edu- 
cation — Special Features of Elementary School Work — The Middle 
School — Higher Schools — The Imperial Universities — Girls' 
High Schools — The Training of Teachers — Of Elementary 



Table of Contents xiii 

PAOE 

Teachers — Of Secondary Teachers — Technical Education — Spe- 
cial Features in Japanese Education — Position of Japanese Women 

— University of Waseda and Pri\ate Initiative — Moral Education 

— Religious Education — Limitations of Japan's Religions — The 
Caste System and Education — Textbook Regulations — Medical 
Education — Topics for Further Study — Special Bibliography . 336 

CHAPTER XI 

CHINA 

Her History — Her Industries — The Recent Republic — The Old Edu- 
cation — Transition to Modern Education — The First Period of 
Modern Education — Pictogram of the Chinese School System from 
1905 to 191 2 — Pictogram of the Chinese School System from 191 2 to 
1916 — The Present School System — The Universities and Colleges 

— The Tsing Hua College — The Canton Christian College — Agricul- 
tural and other Technical Colleges — Medical Education — China's 
Educational Problems — Financing Education — The Need of 
Modern Teachers — The Language Problem — New Content and 
New Methods in Education — An Emancipated Womanhood — 
The Problem of a New Philosophy — Moral and Religious Educa- 
tion — The Government's Program — Topics for Further Study — 
Special Bibliography 391 

MAPS 

Political Map of Europe i 

Political Map of Asia 384 



MODERN EDUCATION IN EUROPE 
AND THE ORIENT 

ENGLAND 
CHAPTER I 

THE GOVERNMENT 

General Character. — The government of England is very 
complex in character. In theory, it is an absolute monarchy 
with a king who makes the laws, enforces them, declares war, 
makes peace, acts as the fountain of justice, and the head of 
the church. In form, the government is a hmited monarchy 
in which ParHament, and not the king, makes the laws, and 
the Cabinet, not the king, administers them. In fact, the 
EngHsh government is a democracy, doing the will of the 
people as no other government, at least in its promptness of 
response. 

The Will of the People. — Democracy was established as 
a fact in four distinct acts of ParHament that stand out in 
great prominence in English Constitutional history, (i) John 
Russell's reform act of 1832 enfranchised the middle class, 
the farmers, and shopkeepers. (2) Disraeh's reform act of 
1867 gave the workingmen the franchise. (3) Gladstone's 
reform measure of 1884 added to the voting body nearly two 
million persons, mainly rural laborers. (4) Finally, the Parlia- 
ment Act of 191 1 reduced the Lords to a subordinate house 



2 Modern Education in Europe mid the Orient 

by a provision that enables the House to pass bills over the 
veto of the Lords. 

How it Functions. — The House which controls legislature 
is elected by an almost universal manhood suffrage. The 
Cabinet, which is the actual executive department, also has 
the initiative power in appropriating money. The members 
are selected from the two houses of Parhament and must be 
of the same pohtical opinions as the majority of the House 
and must be the recognized leaders of that majority. If a 
lack of harmony arises between the Cabinet and the majority 
of the House, either the Ministry must resign, or the Parha- 
ment must be dissolved and an appeal be made to the people 
through a general election. This, in brief, is the democratic 
procedure of the EngHsh government. Added to this is 
the striking fact that no British court can set aside an act 
of Parhament as unconstitutional. Furthermore, the Eng- 
Hsh Constitution is not a written one and any act of Parha- 
ment is law. And, finally, the king's veto has not been used 
for more than two hundred years. In fact England is a 
democracy. 

Why a Monarchy. — The title to the Enghsh throne is 
decided by an act of Parliament and has been so since 1688. 
The Act of Settlement, passed in 1701, fixed the succession to 
the throne, and this has remained unchanged, though Parha- 
ment could change it at any session. His rights are merely 
advisory, and his advice has only the influence that an intelh- 
gent personahty in an honored position gives it. The essen- 
tial reasons for the retention of monarchy are : (i) It is a time- 
honored institution of an extremely conservative people ; 
(2) it serves a social, moral, and ceremonial purpose as a 
visible symbol of the unity of the nation ; (3) a parhamentary 



England 3 

system of government needs at least a figurehead for its 
successful workings ; (4) kingship has been found to be not 
incompatible with democracy. 

The Limiting Constitution. — The Constitution of England 
which hmits the so-called monarchy is not a written document 
in the sense that the Constitution of the United States is such. 
It consists of customs^ laws, precedents, treaties, charters, 
bills of rights, acts of Parliament, court decisions, etc., which 
stretch out through several centuries. These are both written 
and unwritten. This Constitution can be changed in the 
same way that it has become what it is. An act of Parha- 
ment is both law and constitution. It is the most flexible 
and at the same time the most permanent constitution in 
existence. An insight into this characteristic of the EngHsh 
government will aid one in his appreciation of the typical 
system of education that has grown up under it. 

Parliament. — The British Parhament consists of the 
House of Lords and the House of Commons. It is the abso- 
lute authority of the nation, subject only to the will of the 
people. 

For election to the House of Commons any male British 
subject who is of age is eligible, unless he belongs to one of 
the few debarred groups. The distribution of seats in the 
House is on a population basis similar to that of the House 
of Representatives in the United States. This is strictly a 
democratic House. 

The House of Lords consists of six distinct groups of mem- 
bers, sitting by various rights, as follows : (i) Princes of the 
royal blood, (2) peers with hereditary seats, the number of 
which may be increased at the will of the crown for the pur- 
pose of honoring men or for the purpose of changing the 



4 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

political balance in the House, (3) the representative peers 
of Scotland, chosen by the whole body of Scottish peers, 
(4) the representative Irish peers, chosen by the whole body 
of Irish peers, (5) the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who serve 
as the highest national court of appeal, and (6) the " lords 
spiritual," or ecclesiastical members, restricted to the English 
church. 

At present there are 620 members in the House of Lords. 

House of Lords Inharmonious with Nation. — The House 
of Lords has lost the confidence of the nation, and the power 
of the government has passed into the hands of the Commons. 
This transition in the Parliament is simply the reflection of 
the tremendous social, economic, rehgious, and educational 
evolution that has occurred in English society. The people 
and the interests to be represented in Parliament to-day 
are vastly different from the people and the interests repre- 
sented there in the days when the Lords were in public favor. 
Landed property, hereditary nobility, and the Anglican 
Church are no longer the pillars of the British state. The 
ParHament Act of 191 1 subordinated the House of Lords 
to the House of Commons and left it with only the power of 
a suspensive veto in legislation. 

Local Government. — The central government exercises 
a form of local control through five central ministerial de- 
partments, chiefly by the promulgation of regulations and 
the giving or withholding approval of the actions of local 
bodies. One of these five departments is the Board of Edu- 
cation which directs and supervises education relative to 
government aid. 

For local administrative purposes the entire kingdom is 
divided into counties and county boroughs ; and the counties 



England 5 

are subdivided into rural and urban districts, and boroughs ; 
and London is a unit by itself. Each of these units has an 
elective council. The term '' borough " is appUed to any 
non-rural area under a charter granting the right of local 
self-government. The Councils in these administrative units, 
in addition to the ordinary civil duties, direct the educational 
work in their areas, under the rule and regulations of the 
central Board of Education. 

TRANSITION FROM THE OLD EDUCATION TO THE NEW 

The Evolution of Educational Theories. — Education in 
England, during the past several centuries, cannot be better 
described than by the simple statement of the philosophical 
doctrine of Herachtus : " Change, movement, is Lord 
of the Universe. Everything is in a state of becoming, of 
continual flux." It has been well said that, " Few na- 
tions show the influence of so many different forces in their 
educational history as may be recognized in England : the 
church, the state, economic conditions, private enterprise, 
philanthropic endeavor, educational theories — all have 
contributed some tradition to what is gradually developing 
into a well-defined system." And with England, time is 
what Kant conceived it to be, " only a subjective way in 
which we cognize reaHties which in themselves are non-spatial 
and non-temporal." So, what matter when a thing is done, 
just so it's in the doing? The Medieval period shows 
strikingly the influence of the church in the many forms of 
schools with church names, such as cathedral, cloister, con- 
vent, monastic. The pohtical influence is found in the Anglo- 
Saxon and Norman elements of dialect, language, laws, and 
the social classes, and feudal customs. The theories of the 



6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

scholastics are found in their school curricula and their phi- 
losophy. All were mighty forces in their day, and each has 
transmitted a vital inheritance to the present. The sixteenth 
century renaissance and reformation mingled the theory and 
practice of education, the theory of church and state, the 
doctrine of the worth and right of the individual, around the 
dawning of the thought of a state system of education for 
the masses. The history of these movements is volumes in 
the Uves of men and institutions familiar already to the scholar. 
They too have left their imprint upon the present as theories 
and institutions cherished through tradition and belief. 

The sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries were 
illumined with struggles of political, religious, and economic 
theories of freedom, all of which found their way into the 
changing schools of the day to linger on till now. The in- 
terest in nature and the new philosophy of experience as the 
basis of knowledge won the mind away from humanism and 
reUgious dogmas and shook the traditions of the school and 
the church. 

Thus, the new world sHpped away from old England and 
she, like an individual in loss, turned consciousness inward 
and set about a reconstruction of self for adaptation to a new 
environment which she through her own inherent attributes 
had helped to produce. 

Nineteenth Century Reconstruction. — The practical, util- 
itarian social philosophy of such writers as Rousseau, Adam 
Smith, Bentham, and Robert Owen, together with the wars 
with America and Napoleon, brought such intellectual, social, 
and political changes in England at the close of the eighteenth 
and the opening of the nineteenth centuries that society 
turned from the church to the state for reUef . 



England 7 

Education of Factory Children. — The impoverished and 
embittered poor found strength in the new class of political 
theorists, and encouragement and assurance in the theories 
of the social economists. The result was the clause in the 
Factory Act of 1802 that required the master of the apprentice 
to provide for his education. Less fortunate was the bill of 
1807 which proposed, in opposition to the will of the clergy, 
the establishment of schools for the poor, by the civil officials 
of any town or parish. Again, in 181 5 and 1820, similar bills 
were doomed in the stubborn contention of the church 
against the beginnings of a national system of education. But 
out of these attempts at legislation came commissions of 
inquiry into the conditions of popular education and endowed 
schools that furnished a great amount of the information that 
was used for the promotion of the cause of free education. 

National Aid and Child Welfare. — Then came John Rus- 
sell's great reform bill in 1832, that took away representation 
from the dead bones of old England and gave it to the living 
energy and industry of the new England. 

The large increase of the suffrage through this reform bill 
stimulated interest in the necessity of education for the masses. 
The result was the first Parliamentary grant of £20,000 in 
aid of elementary education. It is interesting to observe in 
this connection that the same spirit and powers that worked 
for education of the masses likewise worked for humanity. 
In the same year Parliament abolished slavery and appro- 
priated £20,000,000 to pay for emancipation. And another 
act by this same Parliament prohibited the employment of 
children under nine years of age, limited to nine hours a day 
the labor of those between nine and thirteen, and to twelve 
hours those between thirteen and eighteen. Education and 



8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

freedom without bloodshed was the glory of England in 1833. 
A noble beginning of a national system of education ! The 
appropriation for education was distributed through the 
National and the British and Foreign School Societies, a 
compromise method that has always marked England's 
progress. This money was used to supplement private sub- 
scriptions in the building of schoolhouses. 

State Supervision of Education Begun. — Six years later 
the grant was increased to £30,000 to be used in any desirable 
way to aid elementary education, but administered now by 
a separate committee of the Privy Council, and under govern- 
ment inspection and supervision. This was a very important 
advance by the state and a distinct lessening of the church 
control. 

Public School Associations Organized. — Important pubUc 
school associations and leagues were organized in the leading 
manufacturing centers, such as Manchester and Birmingham, 
for the propagation of the theories and activities of public 
education on a broad basis. In 1847, as a result of this more 
tolerant spirit, the Roman Catholic and Wesleyan Associa- 
tions were admitted on an equality with the estabUshed church 
to the benefit of the education grants. 

State Control of Funds Established. — The state control 
of education through the Committee of the Privy Council 
was further extended in 1856 by the appointment of a Vice 
President of the Committee, who, as Chairman, was directly 
responsible to the House of Commons for the use of the funds 
voted for education purposes. 

Payment by Results. — The growing interest in all kinds 
of social reform, that led to the adoption of free trade in 1846, 
turned educationally to the investigation of the state of popu- 



England g 

lar education, by a Royal Commission, appointed for that 
purpose in 1858. The report was full of stimulating recom- 
mendations and resulted in the Act of 1861, that established 
the system of "payment by results." The success of both 
the teacher and the school, by this method of government 
aid, was made dependent upon the number of pupils who 
could pass the government's examinations. This was a very 
narrow system of state aid to private or church schools and 
was soon seen to be evil in its consequences, as narrowness 
in teaching and unfairness in the distribution of the funds 
were inevitable. Even the supplementing of the system by 
the employment of inspectors to pass opinion upon the schools 
applying for aid did not materially improve the condition. 

Board Schools and School Taxes. — The state turned 
from the principle of state aid to voluntary educational 
agencies, in 1870, to the new principle of local pubUc control 
and taxation. But the victory for the secular school advocates 
was only a partial one. The voluntary schools (church 
schools) with their sectarian instruction, though optional 
to scholars, were still permitted to share in the government aid. 

The secular principles firmly established by this bill are : 
(i) a compulsory local tax, (2) a representative local school 
official, (3) compulsory school attendance, and (4) the right 
of the school to earn the government grant without requiring 
the pupils to receive religious instruction. This dual system 
of Board Schools and voluntary schools has continued until 
the present day, though several times modified, and always in 
the direction of free secular universal education understate con- 
trol. The government grant to support the Act of 1870 was 
$2,810,000, which was thought to be sufficient to meet one-half 
of the expense of the public elementary schools. All- schools 



lo Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

were permitted to charge fees, but only Board Schools were 
allowed to share in the local tax. Important acts were soon 
passed to meet these two conditions. In 1 891, an extra grant 
was appropriated to take the place of local fees, and by the Act 
of 1902 the voluntary schools were admitted to a share in the 
local rates. 

Central Board of Education and Coordination. — The 
coordination of all the educational activities came in the Act 
of 1899 which created a Central Board of Education to which 
were transferred the functions of all other existing education 
bodies. To this Board was given the power and duty to 
extend education to the secondary field as well as to the ele- 
mentary. 

Local Boards Supplanted by Councils. — This change in 
the administration of education was followed in 1902 with a 
still more radical and sweeping one in the abolishment of the 
local boards and the substitution of the local councils for 
them. During these transition days public education had 
made such great strides that in 1902, when the present system 
went into effect, 93% of the elementary schools were free, 
and approximately 50% of the children were in Board Schools. 

ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Conditioned by Private and Sectarian Schools. — The 

present system of educational administration in England, as 
has been traced, is the outgrowth of private and sectarian 
control of education during the past several centuries. The 
state has endeavored to preserve all of the valuable features 
of the old system and to create a new system that would 
continue to foster local freedom and at the same time establish 
the principle of aid and control by the central government. 



England 1 1 

The government has not sought, however, to create a strongly 
centralized and bureaucratic system, such as is found in 
France and Germany and in the newer system in Japan. The 
control of education in the English system is largely through 
its plan of financial assistance, guided by the advisory and 
supervisory function of the education department. This 
method of control is somewhat slow and compromising in 
its results, but it is in keeping with the English political theory 
of slow and well-measured progress. This policy of regard 
and caution, since the establishment of public education in 
1870, has almost completely overcome the threatening in- 
fluences of political, religious, and social interests. The most 
stubborn of these three interests has been the social one, 
which, because of its financial independence, continues to 
maintain a number of institutions separate from state aid 
and control. 

Central Authority in Present System. — The present 
Board of Education was created in 1899 for the administra- 
tion of education in England and Wales. The Board of 
Education consists of not fewer than five nor more than fif- 
teen members. The President of the Board is appointed by 
the Crown. The other members of the Board are the lord 
president of the council, the chancellor of the exchequer, the 
first commissioner of the treasury, and the several secretaries 
of the state. This Board is advised by a Consultative Com- 
mittee, composed of persons representing Universities and 
other educational interests. The specific functions of this 
Board are : (i) to see that the school laws are observed and 
(2) to supervise the administration of the government grants 
to education. In harmony with these two functions, the 
Board of Education prepares annually a Code of Regulations 



12 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

for Public Education. This Code when approved by Parlia- 
ment becomes operative in the sense of school laws. It deals 
with all of the problems of the schools necessary to a minimum 
of efficiency required for participation in state aid. The 
prevailing spirit of the Code is a tendency toward greater 
local freedom in the management of the schools, in the ar- 
rangement of the curriculum, and in the formulation of the 
methods of instruction. • 

Standard Required for Government Aid. — The Board of 
Education prescribes only minimum requirements for the 
government aid. These pertain to teachers, curriculum, 
equipment, attendance, and the factors that vitally condition 
the efficiency of the school. Physical training is the only 
subject insisted upon in the list of subjects designated in the 
curriculum, and it is the only subject in which the prescribed 
syllabus must be followed. And the time to be given to 
each subject is designated only for handicrafts, domestic 
science, and physical training. Likewise the Board fixes 
400 sessions per pupil as the minimum attendance necessary 
for the grant. The Board of Education recognizes four 
grades, or classes of teachers, for the purposes of the educa- 
tion grants. These are : (i) certificated teachers, for whom 
there may be 60 children in average attendance, (2) non- 
certificated teachers, for whom there may be 35 pupils, (3) 
supplementary, and (4) student teachers for each of whom 
there may be 20 pupils. These facts show the extent to which 
the Board is leaving the work of the school to the local author- 
ities. The only uniformity the Board is seeking to secure is 
the kind that has as its purpose the best school for each indi- 
vidual locaHty. And the means by which it is securing this is 
the Code of Regulations, and a system of advisory-inspection. 



England 13 

The Plan of Inspection. — A staff of inspectors is employed 
by the Board of Education whose duties are to report on the 
efficiency of the teachers and the adequacy and hygienic con- 
ditions of the buildings. These reports are for the informa- 
tion of the Board and are not intended, except in the most 
indirect way, to result in the improvement of the local condi- 
tions. However, a closer relation between inspection and 
local efficiency is being brought about through a recent 
agitation resulting in the appointment of a number of inspec- 
tors who have had training and experience in elementary 
school work. Such inspectors, it is thought, even though 
vested with no authority, should be able to secure the con- 
fidence of the local teachers and, by suggestion, gradually 
bring about an improvement in the administration and meth- 
ods of instruction. 

Local Units of Administration. — For the local adminis- 
tration of schools there are four types of areas recognized. 
They are : (i) administrative counties, similar to counties in 
American states, (2) municipaUties wdth a population of 
from 10,000 to 50,000, (3) county boroughs, or cities, with 
a population of not less than 50,000, and (4) urban districts 
(corresponding to townships in an American state) with a 
population not less than 20,000. The civil officials, or coun- 
cils, in these four areas have charge, not only of the educa- 
tional, but the other governmental matters. This method 
of local school administration was substituted in 1902 in the 
place of the old school boards of the smaller areas. This 
extension of the school area and the corresponding increase 
of powers has attracted to the management of the schools a 
more capable type of men and women. In such cities as 
London, Manchester, and Liverpool the civil councils control all 



14 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

branches of education through a special education committee. 
The control of education in England by the public service 
council characterizes the Enghsh system, in contrast to the 
system of control by a Board of Education in the United 
States. 

This system of local control includes not only elementary 
education, but also higher elementary and central schools, 
secondary education, technical schools, and various forms 
of continuation courses, medical inspection, meals for poor 
children, vacation and recreation schools, and employment 
agencies. 

Classes of Elementary Schools. — Under the Education 
Act of 1902, which is now in force, there are two classes of 
elementary schools under public control. These are : (i) pro- 
vided schools, and (2) non-provided, or voluntary schools. 
For the first class, the buildings have been provided out of 
pubhc funds or have been presented to the local school au- 
thorities. For the second class, the buildings, which have 
been constructed out of private funds, are rented to the local 
school authorities. The main difference between these two 
classes of schools, so far as the pubUc is concerned, consists 
in the fact that the foundation managers of the non-provided 
schools must keep the buildings in repair, and that the de- 
nomination owning the buildings is allowed to give reHgious 
instruction in the building, at an hour not interfering with 
school work. This plan of union of the church and state 
schools aboUshed the dual system of schools and extended the 
local rates to the church schools as a part of one public system. 

Local Managers and Care Committees. — The local educa- 
tion authority in each administrative unit is required to ap- 
point a body of four or more managers for each school or group 



England 15 

of schools under its control. In the case of the non-provided 
or denominational schools, . two thirds of the managers are 
chosen from the foundation managers and the other third 
are appointed by the local authorities. The powers and 
duties of these managers are mainly inspectorial and advisory. 
They serve without salary for a term of three years. Their 
efficiency depends largely upon their individuahty , and their 
recommendations to the Council have more or less weight 
accordingly. The vital significance of this method of local 
control lies in the recognition which it gives to the principle 
of representative government as a balance to the tendency 
toward a centralized bureaucratic control. 

In America there are no such official provisions for perennial 
advisor}^ relations between parents, teachers, and school officials. 
Such work is done in part by voluntary parents' associations, 
self-appointed committees, and periodic school board elec- 
tion campaigns. Doubtless, the genius of each of the two 
peoples is best served by the method in vogue. 

In addition to the school managers, there is another body 
in a few cities, known as the care committee. The duties 
of this committee are charitable and philanthropic and are 
directed toward the home life and the daily physical, economic, 
and moral needs of the children. This committee is composed 
of two or three members of the body of managers and several 
voluntary members selected by them. In some cities a paid 
organizer is employed by the council to advise and direct 
the care committees in their work. The functions and work 
of these committees offer a splendid opportunity for the study 
and development of the social community welfare. In the 
city of London there are as many as a thousand care com- 
mittees, organized into local associations, one for each of the 



1 6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

twenty-seven districts , for systematic work . The method seems 
to be meeting with popular favor but the efficiency of the work 
is in all cases dependent upon the personnel of the committees. 

Compulsory School Attendance. — The compulsory school 
age in England is from five to fourteen years. An educa- 
tional certificate of exemption may be secured, however, after 
a pupil is twelve years of age, and has passed the fourth 
grade of the elementary school. The organization for the 
enforcement of the attendance law is very efficient, as shown 
by the high percentage of attendance, which for the year 
1910-11 was 90% of the pupils of compulsory school age, 
five to fourteen. There are several factors that bring about 
these favorable results. Aside from the law itself, which 
empowers local school authorities to employ attendance 
officers and to punish negUgent parents and refractory chil- 
dren, the payment of government grants for education on 
the basis of school attendance is unquestionably the strongest 
influence in securing the high percentage of attendance. 

For this purpose the government requires an attendance 
of not fewer than 400 school sessions. A pupil who fails to 
reach this mark causes a financial loss to his district. This 
fact, as well as the educational one, stimulates the teacher 
and special school agencies to secure the best attendance 
possible. This special interest results also in securing a close 
cooperation between the attendance officers and the medical 
officers for the purpose of preserving the physical fitness of 
pupils for school attendance. A recent inquiry showed the 
average cost per pupil for the enforcement of school attend- 
ance to be from 16 to 53 cents in 13 of the largest towns in 
England. The grant earned for the school by such a pupil 
would be about $5.50. 



England 17 

Support of Schools. — The sources of income for the sup- 
port of schools are government grants, local rates, school fees, 
and endowments. The last two, however, are of no con- 
siderable consequence since the passage of the education act 
of 1903 that permits the denominational schools to share in 
the local rates More than half of the elementary school 
expenses is now met by local rates. The government grants 
are as follows: (i) a grant of $1.00 per scholar, and an 
additional sum to areas of a low tax-rate value, (2) fee grant 
of $2.50 per child in average attendance between the ages 
of 3 to 15 to take the place of pupils' fees so as to make edu- 
cation free, (3) an average attendance grant of nearly $3.50 
per unit of average attendance (400 sessions) between the 
ages of 3 to 5 and of nearly $5.50 for pupils 5 to 15, (4) special 
subjects grants for instruction in handicrafts, gardening, 
domestic subjects, and (5) a special grant in areas with 
small population. 

As has been pointed out elsewhere, the main emphasis of 
this method of apportioning the government grants is upon 
school attendance. 

The former method which this supplanted apportioned 
the grants on the basis of results, as shown by the number of 
pupils passing the state examinations. This method was 
narrowing and unfair from the point of view of real educa- 
tional efficiency. The present method is doubtless more 
stimulating in a broad sense. The tendency is toward a 
proportional increase in the local rates. In London, in 
1913, the local rate amounted to about 70% of the total 
cost of education. This increase in local rates pro- 
vides for a decrease in class enrollment and for other 
improvements. 



1 8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 
Organization. — The English elementary schools are char- 
acterized by a variety in their organization. Instead of a 
uniform type, as is found in the United States, there are in 
England three distinct types. These types differ from one 
another in the grouping of the two sexes. In one type, co- 
education exists in all grades (standards) ; in another, above 
the Infants department, the sexes are separated ; and in the 
third, the separation of sexes occurs only in the grammar 
grade (senior) department. This scheme of organization 
is the product of two opposing theories regarding coeducation 
that have been prevalent for centuries in English education 
and elsewhere. 

The following pictogram will make clear this three-type 
scheme of organization. The arguments for and against 
this arrangement are the conventional ones of differences 
in sex ability, vocational needs, moral influence, male or female 
principals and teachers for the different sexes. All of these 
problems are being met in various ways, and in the main the 
tendency seems to be towards a unified system of organization 
with coeducation throughout. 

The junior department as a rule includes the three lower 
grades and the senior department includes the four upper 
grades. The division into grades is arranged on the general 
supposition that the pupils entering at seven years of age 
will pass a grade each year and thereby complete the elemen- 
tary school at fourteen years of age. As a matter of fact 
such provisions are made for the brighter students as enable 
many of them to make two grades a year and so complete 
the course by the time they are eleven or twelve years old. 
The flexibility of the system in this respect is one of its 



England 



19 



PICTOGRAM OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 
Grades Secondary Schools — 10 to 16 Age 



5 years 



3 years 



7 Type I 



Boys 



Trade Schools — 13 to 18 



Higher Elementary — 12 to 15 



Occasional 8th Standard 



Type II 



16 



15 



14 



Type III 13 



Senior separate 12 



and 



Coeducation 



Girls 



Junior 



2 Separate 



Coeducation 8 



Infant School 



4 




7 to 8 


3 




6 to 7 


2 




5 to 6 


I 


Babies' Class, 3 to 5 years old 





20 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

merits. It is estimated that by this arrangement about ten 
per cent of the pupils pass through two grades each year. In 
many schools an eighth grade, known as the extra-seventh, is 
maintained. 

A higher elementary or central school is also found in some 
districts for pupils from twelve to fifteen years of age, a three 
years' course of a vocational character. Only about one 
per cent of the pupils above twelve years of age are found in 
this school. The secondary school dips down into the elemen- 
tary school and receives pupils at the tenth, eleventh, or 
twelfth year of age upon the completion of the work of the 
fifth grade. Trade schools and other forms of extension 
schools also admit pupils from the elementary schools at 
twelve or thirteen years of age. These facts and conditions 
make the problem of coordination of elementary and higher 
schools a confusing one ; especially is this true with the re- 
lation of the secondary and elementary schools, each of which 
has its own distinct purpose and method of work. In locali- 
ties where secondary schools are first established as public 
institutions there are no traditions to overcome and there 
coordination is easily settled. 

The Infant School. — The Infant department receives 
pupils from three to seven years of age, though the number 
of pupils from three to five is rapidly diminishing. The 
prevailing type of the English Infant school is much more 
formal and discipHnary than the FroebeUan Kindergarten 
in the United States. Until recently these schools were 
subjected to rigid examinations in the formal subjects, reading, 
writing, and arithmetic, just as were the elementary schools. 
But in recent years they are becoming more like kindergartens 
in the spirit of freedom and the character of the curriculum 



England 21 

and methods of teaching. For the younger pupils (babies' 
classes), the work consists of games, songs, stories, handwork, 
etc. ; and for the older ones, a continuation of the work of the 
lower group with beginning work in formal reading, writing, 
and arithmetic. 

It must be remembered, in viewing the work of the English 
Infant schools, that the age Umit of the pupils extends from 
one to two years higher than it does in the American Kinder- 
garten, thus properly permitting more of the formal work. 
Recently the Board of Education has substituted women in 
the place of men as inspectors of the Infant schools. This 
change is having a good effect upon the general character of 
these schools. The large class enrollment of 48 to 60 pupils 
still permitted by the Board of Education is a condition that 
lessens the efhciency very materially. It is only fair to say 
that the present status of the Infant school is a compromise 
between what the best teachers believe to be right and what 
practical, political, and economic conditions demand. Their 
evolution is in the direction of the correct theory. 

The Elementary School. — The elementary school, proper, 
begins with pupils at the age of seven and carries them through 
seven grades, or until they reach the age of fourteen. This 
school is in a period of transition from old aims and standards 
that were narrowing in their influence, such as the system 
of " payment by results," of former years, to the newer ideals 
and methods that demand a broader curriculum and a higher 
regard for the social and economic needs of the individual. 
It is also just emerging from the influence of the theory that 
public education was for the lower classes, and only recently 
entered into the acceptance of the doctrine of a National 
system of education for all the people. Viewed from these 



22 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

angles the English elementary school is making progress. 
The conservative traditions of the English people demand 
much freedom and great elasticity in the development of their 
institutions. These characteristics are very prominent in 
their elementary schools. The school or department, rather 
than the entire system, is the unit, and the head of each school 
is granted the greatest freedom in making the curriculum and 
determining the methods of instruction in his own school. 

The subjects in the curriculum prepared by the Board of 
Education are English, writing, arithmetic, geography, 
history, singing, moral instruction, drawing, observation, 
and nature study lessons, music, physical training, thrift, 
hygiene, domestic subjects and needlework for girls, and 
handwork for boys. No school is required to follow this 
curriculum except in an advisory sense. This gives to the 
head teacher of any school the privilege of adapting the course 
of study to the local needs. The only Hmitation placed upon 
this extensive freedom is the requirement that each course 
of study must be approved by the local and national inspec- 
tors. This principle of freedom is right only on condition 
that the head teacher who makes the curriculum is theoreti- 
cally trained and is rich and judicious in practical experience. 
This condition is not very general, however, in the EngHsh 
schools. In some schools, such as those in Liverpool, the 
system is employed of having organizing principals who are 
assisted by the heads of departments. This system is some- 
what analogous to the system of principalships in the Ameri- 
can schools. Doubtless the wider interest in the professional 
training of teachers that is now emphasized by the Board of 
Education, in time will improve the inner organization and 
supervision of the curriculum. 



England 23 

At present the greatest improvement seems to be in the 
teaching of the new subjects of a vocational character, as there 
are no traditions in connection with these at variance with 
modern principles of teaching. 

Some of the problems pressing for solution in the elementary 
schools are : (i) a richer course of study for the pupils 
above twelve years of age, who do not plan to enter a higher 
school, (2) elimination of traditional and useless material 
from an overcrowded program, (3) a reduction of the size 
of the class from the 50 to 60 pupils now allowed for rating 
purposes, (4) a reconstruction of the methods of instruction 
from those designed to drill for examinations to those that 
will secure character, initiative, and practical knowledge 
and skill necessary for a joyous and efficient life, (5) a larger 
percentage of professionally trained teachers and supervisors, 
and (6) a better correlation with the Infant school below and 
with the secondary school above. 

Leaving examinations, exempting children from compul- 
sory school attendance, are given at the end of the fourth, 
fifth, or seventh grades, (i) At the end of the fourth grade, 
for pupils eleven years old who are to go to work in some 
agricultural position, this examination is based on the three 
fundamental subjects, reading, writing, and arithmetic. 
Pupils who receive this certificate are known as " half-time 
scholars," and are required to attend school 250 sessions (one 
hour and twenty minutes) a year until they are thirteen 
years old. (2) The examination at the end of the fifth grade 
is in the same subjects as the one at the end of the fourth, 
but for children leaving at twelve years of age. (3) The 
examination at the end of the seventh grade is in the same 
subjects and for pupils at the age of fourteen. 



24 



Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 



These exempted pupils leave school at any time during the 
year and without any ceremony. 

Special subjects, including cookery, laundering, house- 
wifery, domestic subjects, dairy work, handicraft, and garden- 
ing, are provided for by special grants. These are taught 
according to a special syllabus. This work is limited to 
pupils over eleven years of age and to schools properly equipped 
and supplied with competent teachers certificated or approved 
by the Board of Education. This work is very practical 
and is quite widely introduced. 

The following statistics for 191 2-1 3 show the elementary 
school enrollment and the amount of the government grants 
for elementary education for that year. 



Class 


Number 




Enrollment 


Provided (Council) 

Non-provided (Voluntary) .... 

English 

Wesleyan 

Roman Catholic 

Jewish 


8,979 

10,803 

200 

1,000 

12 

439 


12,454 




Non-sectarian 


6,086,229 



Amount of grants £14,322,019, or $71,610,095. 

This is equivalent to $11.75 P^^ pupil. The local rate, on 
an average, is about the same as the government grant. The 
two equal $23.50 public tax spent on elementary education, 
per pupil, not including building and equipment. This is 
a fair average in comparison with the amount spent by a 
number of the states in the United States, but it is too small 
to meet the pressing demands for the various reforms under 
way. 



England 25 

SPECIAL SUBJECTS 

Grants for Special Subjects. — The government allows 
extra grants for the teaching of several special subjects in 
the elementary schools, (i) These subjects are handicrafts, 
gardening, domestic subjects, cookery, laundering, dairying, 
housewifery. The Board prescribes that these subjects shall 
be taught only to pupils over eleven years of age, in properly 
equipped buildings, by approved or specially certificated 
teachers, and in accord with a syllabus provided by the Board. 

The schools have quite generally introduced these lines of 
work, but they have found the expense involved in providing 
equipment quite a handicap. The problem of correlating 
these subjects with other subjects in the curriculum is one 
that has not been very successfully worked out in many 
schools. And for some of the subjects, such as handwork, 
many of the teachers are only artisans who emphasize the 
commercial phase of the work to the neglect of the educational. 
In this respect the tendency is to provide special training for 
the regular teachers and have them do this work. 

The courses are generally two years in length, and the aim 
of the instruction is both educational and practical. The 
courses for girls fit them for household duties, and those for 
boys aim to interest them in earning their living by manual 
labor in the arts and crafts. (2) Special emphasis is placed 
upon physical training. The aim of the syllabus in this sub- 
ject is to secure such systematic training as will produce 
healthy individuals and improve the physical welfare of the 
nation. From two to three lessons per week, amounting in 
all to one hour's time, is given to these subjects. Most of 
the elementary schools have introduced the work. The 
Board of Education has placed the supervision of this subject 



26 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

under the direction of the medical department of the Board. 
The Swedish system of physical training is in use and will 
doubtless become the national scheme. The instruction is 
given by the regular class teachers, and the Board, looking to 
the best training possible in this work, is requiring all training 
colleges to teach physical training. (3) An important part 
of the physical training is a regular system of games, such as 
cricket, rounders, hockey, basket ball, and football, and in 
some places track athletics and swimming. 

The Board requires playgrounds for all schools and insists 
upon from ten to fifteen square feet per child for this purpose. 
The custom prevails of having all physical exercises, as well 
as games, out of doors in the open air, when the weather does 
not forbid. This necessitates a careful preparation and care 
of the grounds. 

(4) The Education Act of 1907 provided for the medical 
inspection in the elementary schools and established for 
that purpose a medical department in the Board of Educa- 
tion. The aim of this act is both social and educational ; 
social, in that it looks to the physical and moral improvement 
of the nation, and educational, in that it plans to make the 
methods of teaching conducive to the physical welfare of 
the children. The Board makes ample recommendations 
to the councils regarding the qualifications of medical officers, 
but prescribes no fixed standards. The present system pro- 
vides for the inspection of children once on their admission 
to school, between the ages of five and six, and again before 
they leave, between twelve and fourteen ; arrangements are 
also made for special cases. The Board provides a grant of 
over $300,000 to meet the expenses of medical inspection. 
The local council has the authority to compel parents, who 



England 27 

are able to do so, to pay the actual cost of treatment when it 
is recommended by the medical inspector. Nearly a thousand 
medical officers and seven hundred nurses are employed in 
this medical service for the schools. 

In this work of physical education and medical inspection 
and care England is doing as much, possibly, as any other 
country in the conservation and protection of child life. Her 
theory is that the welfare of the individual and the nation, 
morally, intellectually, and industrially, is conditioned by 
the health of the body. 

(5) The feeding of needy children is also provided for under 
the Board of Education in the same spirit and for the same 
general social and educational purposes as are the other forms 
of bodily care. 

The local authorities associate with them the meals com- 
mittee and the school medical officer in the selection and feeding 
of the needy children. Parents who are able to pay for these 
meals are required to do so. Observation shows that many 
children who need care are not underfed, but improperly fed. 

(6) The education of mental defectives was provided for 
by the Elementary Education Act of 1899 which empowered 
local authorities to establish schools for such children as are 
certified after medical examination to be mentally defective. 
This act defines a mentally defective to be one who is not 
only backward and incapable of being properly benefited by 
the regular school work, but is capable of receiving benefit 
from special schools, under special instruction. 

For determining what pupils come under this head the 
Board of Education has prepared a schedule of medical ex- 
amination to be used, and has recommended in connection 
with this examination the use of the Binet-Simon tests. 



28 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The medical officers examine such pupils as are recom- 
mended to them by the elementary school teachers as retarded, 
or backward. Such of these pupils as are found mentally 
defective are sent to special schools ; those bordering on this 
condition are sent to the same schools as probationers, for 
care and observation ; and the others are retained in special 
classes in the ordinary schools. Such is the plan that is 
being worked out by the state, while many voluntary organi- 
zations are maintaining institutions of various kinds for the 
same general purpose. The law requires the attendance of 
mentally defectives at some school from the age of seven to 
sixteen. In 1910 there were in England and Wales 165 day 
schools for this class of pupils. Provision has been made 
thus far for only about 12,000 mentally defectives, while a 
recent estimate places the number of such children at about 
27,000, or 5%, of the elementary school children. 

The average school for defectives has four classes, with a 
limited class enrollment of from twenty to twenty-five. 

The curriculum in these schools places emphasis upon 
manual subjects and the inductive concrete method of in- 
struction in all subjects taught. The cost of maintaining 
these special schools is over twice the cost per pupil in the 
ordinary schools. It is from $50.00 to $60.00 per capita, of 
which the government grants amount to about $22.00. The 
cost per capita in the residential schools is from two to three 
times as great as the average. There are eight of these 
schools, and all but one are supported by voluntary bodies. 

There are two chief problems relative to this type of chil- 
dren that society and the government are seriously concerned 
with. One is the education of the mentally defectives in some 
such way as not to embarrass the normal pupils, and to give 



England 29 

them the special subjects by special methods adapted to their 
needs. This means a further segregation and a more ample 
pro\'ision of separate schools. The other problem is that of 
employment and moral care after they leave school. It is 
estimated that the country has at the present time as many 
as 150,000 feeble-minded people whose daily life is fraught 
with risk and danger to them as individuals and to society 
as a whole. In some localities special after-care committees 
are voluntarily looking after the needs of these unfortunates. 
Recent movements look to legislation that will create a com- 
mission to supervise and control defectives. 

(7) The education of physical defectives of elementary 
school age is provided by the same authority as other forms 
of elementary education. Open-air schools are conducted 
for such children who ' by reason of physical defect are in- 
capable of receiving proper benefit from instruction in the 
ordinary public elementary schools." 

These children are selected in the same way as are the men- 
tally defectives. The open-air schools are kept open during 
the regular school hohdays. The curriculum of these schools 
is of a very practical kind and consists largely of manual 
training and the application of the formal subjects to the 
industries in the vicinities of the schools. The results are 
generally good. Many of the students go back to the regular 
schools greatly improved and more capable and alert in their 
work. A great many cities, in particular, are actively de- 
veloping this system of schools for their physical defectives. 

(8) Vacation schools and recreation centers for the children 
in the regular elementary schools during school holidays have 
been permitted by the local councils under the Act of 1907. 
But so far not much use has been made of this power. Eng- 



30 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

land is slow in taking up this form of social work at public 
expense. In several cities there are voluntary organizations, 
however, that are conducting many play centers for children. 
The movement, common in the United States, to use the 
school buildings and school playgrounds for social betterment 
work for adults and children during evenings, and holidays, 
has not taken root yet in England. 

(9) Employment for the juvenile leaving the elementary 
and secondary schools is being systematically arranged by 
the Board of Education under the Act of 19 10, which per- 
mits local authorities to appoint committees consisting of 
representatives of industrial and educational interests to 
direct this work. Central offices are maintained by paid 
executive workers whose duty it is to secure the cooperation 
of parents, schools, and institutions employing labor. The 
cooperation of these agencies will tend to place the juvenile 
laborers in positions to which they are best fitted and will 
furnish a medium through which to follow up these young 
people with counsel and moral protection, a condition that is 
greatly needed for both rural and urban children. In respect 
to this work, England is leading other countries. 

(10) Juvenile delinquents are provided for through day 
and residential industrial schools. The aim of these schools 
is to rescue and protect such children from demoralizing 
environment. The Act defines these industrial schools as, 
" schools for the industrial training of children, in which 
children are lodged, clothed, and fed, as well as taught." 
These schools must be certified by the Secretary of State and 
are under his direction, and not in any way under the Board 
of Education. The children are sent to these schools by 
local authorities under the order of the court. The follow- 



England 3 1 

ing classes of children may be so committed : (i) persistent 
truants from school, (2) children under twelve, charged with 
a criminal offense, (3) those living with evil associates or 
criminal or neglectful parents, and (4) those found begging, 
or not under proper guardianship. 

These schools are maintained by many local authorities 
as well as by the Department of State. The children com- 
mitted to the day industrial schools are required to attend 
the whole day, including the hours for the three meals. The 
weakness of this system lies in the fact that in the evenings 
at home the children are exposed to the same harmful en- 
vironment from which the institution was designed to pro- 
tect them. The program of school work, however, is better 
adapted to their needs than is the work in the regular elemen- 
tary school. It consists of ordinary school work and indus- 
trial training. The special parliamentary grant to these 
schools requires that the work in them shall be on the same 
general level as the work in the ordinary elementary schools, 
but the abnormality of the pupils necessarily calls for a greatly 
varied program. The usual medical supervision for the 
regular schools is extended also to these industrial schools. 
Such parents as are able to do so are required to contribute 
towards the expenses of the school. The cost for maintaining 
children in these schools is estimated to be about four times 
the cost for maintaining children in the ordinary schools. 
But their value to the child in terms of character, efficiency, 
and joy, and to society in terms of safety and efficiency, 
cannot be estimated in dollars and cents. More of this type 
of school, properly developed, would mean fewer jails and 
almshouses to any country. 



32 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

SECONDARY EDUCATION 

Its Origin. — Public secondary education, as it now ex- 
ists in England, had its origin in the Act of 1902. By this 
act local education authorities were empowered and instructed 
to provide education beyond the elementary grades. As a 
result, several types of secondary schools, technical and trade 
schools, evening classes, and central schools have been estab- 
lished. These public secondary schools have come into ac- 
tive rivalry with the old private endowed classical secondary 
schools of traditional renown. The established custom in 
these old schools has been to receive pupils before they were 
twelve years old, and this precedent fixes the present-day 
practice. The secondary courses of study, therefore, are for 
pupils from twelve to sixteen years of age, in general. 

Higher Elementary Schools. — The higher elementary 
school admits pupils at eleven to twelve years of age from the 
fifth grade and gives them a three-year course of study, and 
rarely a fourth year, when sanctioned. To be eligible to 
participate in the special government grants, these schools 
must comply with special requirements of the Board of Edu- 
cation, pertaining to buildings, teachers, etc. The course 
of study must make provisions for vocational subjects adapted 
to local needs, and must include the general subjects, English, 
elementary mathematics, history, geography, drawing, manual 
arts for boys, and domestic subjects for girls. The class en- 
rollment is limited to forty pupils, and the total enrollment in 
the school is not to exceed three hundred and fifty. Only 
about one per cent of the pupils above twelve years of age 
and under sixteen are in the higher elementary schools. The 
pupils who take this course, as a rule, attend no higher schools, 
so it is for them a finishing school. The annual grant to these 



England 33 

schools is considerably larger than it is to the regular ele- 
mentary schools. But the restrictions and closer supervision 
by the Board of Education have made some localities, as 
London and Manchester, prefer to forfeit this larger higher 
elementary school grant and organize another type of school, 
but one that would still permit them to participate in the 
ordinary elementary school grant. 

Central Schools. — The central school is a new type of 
school maintained by London and Manchester to take the 
place of higher elementary schools and offering advanced 
elementary education for the purpose of equipping boys and 
girls for industrial, commercial, and home life. Mucli more 
freedom is allowed the head teacher by the local council in 
shaping the curriculum of these schools than is allowed by 
the Board of Education to the higher elementary school head. 
This is for the purpose of securing better adaptation to local 
needs. Pupils can enter at eleven or twelve years of age 
and remain through a four-year course or until they are 
fifteen or sixteen. In addition to the industrial or commercial 
aim of the course for those who will enter at once upon some 
vocation, the course prepares students to enter some special 
polytechnic institute for further training. Each of these 
central schools draws, on the average, from eighteen to twenty 
contributory schools. The candidates for admission to the 
central schools are selected by examination or by some system 
of accrediting by the heads of the schools concerned. The 
pupils so selected are expected to remain in school until the 
completion of the full course. Each locality has some system 
of aid to children of poor parents to enable them to attend. 
The Board of Education, for rating purposes, treats these 
schools as ordinary elementary schools. Separate schools 



34 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

for girls are maintained so as to differentiate the curriculum 
for their special needs. The courses of study in all of these 
schools include the main subjects of the upper grades of the 
elementary school and the commercial and industrial subjects. 
Modern languages, generally French, are also taught at least 
four hours per week for four years. It is a much richer 
course than fhe elementary course and is conducted more in 
accord with modern pedagogy. 

Liverpool is meeting this same demand by organizing special 
classes in connection with the ordinary elementary school, 
beginning with the last year of that course and giving two 
years' work with a commercial and industrial bias. This 
method would seem to be the simpler one and it would not 
divide the upper grades. It would also make possible the 
enrichment of the curriculum in the upper grades for all the 
pupils who might desire it and could not attend a central 
school. 

There is also a tendency to organize trade schools under 
this same general arrangement. All of these types of semi- 
secondary schools are helping to increase the popularity of 
secondary education and to hasten the day of a complete 
system. 

Secondary Schools. — The Education Act of 1902 con- 
ferred upon the Board of Education the power to determine 
the conditions under which all secondary schools, both en- 
dowed and public, may share in the ParHamentary grants. 
Such schools are free to reject such regulations, and thereby 
forfeit the right to aid. The definition of a secondary school, 
as used by the Board, is, "■ any day or boarding school which 
offers to each of its scholars, up to and beyond the age of 
sixteen, a general education, physical, mental, and moral, 



England 35 

given through a complete graded course of instruction of wider 
scope and more advanced degree than that given in elemen- 
tary schools." This school receives pupils at a much younger 
age than does the American secondary school, which accounts, 
in part, for many differences in the two courses. Pupils may 
enter as young as eight or nine years of age, and from that 
up to twelve or thirteen, and remain in until they are from 
sixteen to nineteen. The regulations regarding the teaching 
staff, non-sectarian character, income, fees, length of term, 
etc., are in harmony with those for the elementary pubhc 
schools. 

The course of study is a fair equivalent of the upper grammar 
grades and the first two or three years of the high school 
in the United States, with special provisions for games, physi- 
cal exercise, singing, manual instruction, and household arts 
and sciences for girls. 

The policy of the Board regarding secondary schools is to 
discourage early specialization by insisting upon a sound 
general education up to the age of sixteen. However, a large 
amount of liberty is allowed in constructing courses of study 
to meet local needs. The Board has fixed the maximum class 
enrollment at thirty, which is a big improvement over the 
similar regulation in other types of schools. It also insists 
that pupils shall remain in school until their fifteenth birthday 
or pay back the grant fee. There is considerable complaint 
about this centralization of authority, but the Board insists 
that it is judiciously endeavoring to estabhsh a complete 
system of schools. These schools must include two languages 
other than English, one of which must be Latin, unless omitted 
by special approval of the Board. 

To the secondary schools, meeting the requirements of the 



36 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Board, annual grants are paid and a system of inspection is 
provided. All secondary schools which desire to qualify for 
the government grant must provide free scholarships for se- 
lected pupils entering from elementary schools, on practically 
an equal basis for girls and boys. It is estimated that about 
one in twenty- two of the pupils in the elementary schools enters 
the secondary schools, and about half of this number receive 
free tuition there. These pupils must have attended an ele- 
mentary school two years and must pass a competitive exami- 
nation in the fundamental subjects of the fourth grade. It is 
thought that the scholarship holders, selected as they are on 
an intellectual basis, are more likely to make the best of their 
opportunity than are the general run of people who claim en- 
trance to the secondary schools as a right. These students, 
so selected, help to recruit the professional classes and tend 
to uplift the general social strata. Only about one fourth of 
the students in the secondary schools are free scholarship 
students. The government grant to these schools is $10.00 
for each pupil between ten and twelve years of age and $25.00 
for each pupil twelve to eighteen years old. These grants 
pay about one half of the expenses of the secondary schools ; 
the other half is met by fees and local rates. In 1910, in 
England and Wales, there were 1037 secondary schools under 
government inspection, with an enrollment of 172,244 pupils, 
of whom 53.8 % were boys and 46.2 % were girls. 

In many of these secondary schools provision is made for 
the training of elementary teachers. Each school offering 
this work receives an additional grant of $5.00 for each pupil 
twelve to eighteen years of age. This work is similar to the 
normal work offered in many American high schools. It is 
an additional step in the English school system toward the 



Englana 37 

recognition of the principle that the secondary school should 
serve society in a vocational way and not merely prepare for 
the University. Many of these private secondary schools 
prepare pupils for admission, at the ages of twelve to fourteen, 
to the '' Great Endowed Public Schools," such as Eton, and 
Rugby. All of the higher order of the secondary schools are 
closely affiliated with the Universities for which they prepare 
their students. 

More than half of the secondary schools are on the grant 
list, which means that the old type of private secondary schools 
is being rapidly absorbed into the public system. 

For the higher social class, the " Great Endowed Public 
Schools," with their unbroken generations of traditions, will 
continue to provide the classical secondary education. 

Great Endowed Public Schools. — The type of secondary 
education that is more truly English than any other and that 
has given England a name and a fame the world over for five 
hundred years is that of the so-called " great public schools." 
Winchester from 1382, with the briUiant array of Eton, of 
the fifteenth century, and St. Paul's, Westminster, Rugby, 
and Harrow, of the sixteenth century, have been inseparably 
connected with the development of England's great men who 
have molded the civilization and traditions of this great 
people. These schools are not public but are richly endowed, 
and in addition charge large tuition and fees. They have 
ever been the schools of the wealthy social class. To the 
present day they have held aloof from public control of any 
form, preferring to perpetuate their time-honored traditions 
and freedom to accepting the proffered government grants 
which since 1908 they could have had. Of the forty or more 
of this class of schools nine stand out in great prominence. 



38 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The above-named six, with Charterhouse, Shrewsbury, and 
Merchant Taylors, have from a few hundred to a thousand 
students each, with a total of more than five thousand boys. 
This is a small percentage, about one fortieth of the two 
hundred thousand secondary school pupils in England and 
Wales. But the influence of this group is far out of pro- 
portion to their numbers, because of their social position, 
wealth, and traditions. Boys are prepared to enter these 
schools by private preparatory schools and also, in recent 
years, by higher grades of the public elementary schools. 
The age for entering the " great public schools " is thirteen 
or fourteen. The course covers six forms, or grades, but can 
be completed by the boys by their eighteenth or nineteenth 
year. The program is not such a crowded one as is that of 
the secondary schools of France, Germany, or the United States. 
The classical influence still predominates in these schools, 
though some modern subjects have crept in recently. The 
primary aim of these institutions is to develop leadership of 
the highest type, and in this respect these schools are said to 
surpass the secondary schools of any other country in the 
world. 

The graduates of these schools enter the Universities for 
the completion of their education, unlike the graduates of 
the finishing schools — the German Gymnasium and the 
French lycee. Their school life throughout is a characteristic 
one. They are sent from home at nine or ten years of age 
to spend three or four years in a preparatory boarding school, 
and then as many more years in the great public school, 
living only with boys and taught only by men. Their home 
life is with the family of one of the masters, and an occasional 
holiday visit with their parents. The course of training is 



England 39 

a rigid one for the development of the characteristics of the 
typical English gentleman. A decline of these great schools 
would have to be interpreted in terms of the ascendency of a 
new and more thoroughly democratic civilization. It may 
come, but it is a long way off. 

THE TR.\INING OF TEACHERS 

The General Condition. — The provisions for the training 
of teachers in England are as chaotic as they are in the United 
States. Properly speaking there is no system of training, 
but only several methods by which teachers may enter the 
profession. However, the Board of Education strongly urges 
the adoption of a particular one of these methods, that by way 
of training in the secondary schools, as the future system. 
The report of the Board for 1911-12 shows the present con- 
dition relative to properly trained and certificated teachers. 
The percentage of the different classes of teachers was as 
follows : certificated, 64.66 % ; uncertificated, 26.05 % J stu- 
dent-teachers, 1.14%; supplementary teachers, 8.15%; out 
of a total of 150,184 public elementary teachers. The report 
showed an increase of nearly 3 % in the certificated teachers 
over what it was the second year previous, and a correspond- 
ing decrease in the three uncertified classes. The situation 
in the secondary field is even worse than in the elementary, 
though there are a few institutions that give some attention 
to the training of secondary teachers, but mainly for the lower 
grades of the secondary schools. However, the Board of 
Education is working vigorously on the problem in both fields. 
As rapidly as seems judicious and safe the uncertificated 
teachers are being discredited for government grants. A 
strong sentiment everywhere is making itself felt for higher 



40 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

salaries as an inducement to better teacher- training. A 
careful study has been made recently of the German system 
of training of secondary teachers with a view to improvements 
in this grade of teacher-training. The teachers themselves 
have organized a Teachers' Registration Council through 
which to create an official list of the teaching profession based 
upon standards, one of which is professional training. The 
outlook is hopeful, though, as yet, it is far from Utopian. 

Preliminary Training. — There are three methods by which 
a teacher may enter the teaching profession and eventually 
become a certified teacher in regular service. These are as 
follows : — 

(i) The student may pass through the elementary school, 
then become an ordinary pupil and later a student-teacher 
in a secondary school, next an uncertificated teacher in serv- 
ice, and by his own efforts prepare for the examination for 
the certificate necessary for regular service. 

(2) The student may pass through the elementary school, 
then to a preparatory class, next to some pupil-teacher center, 
and finally through a training college to the examination for 
a certificate. 

(3) The student may pass through the elementary school 
to the secondary school as an ordinary student, then as a 
bursar or pupil-teacher in the secondary school, and, finally, 
through the training college or the University to the examina- 
tion for a certificate. 

As a matter of fact, these three methods are greatly com- 
pUcated through provisions by which the student may pass 
back and forth from one scheme to another. But for the 
general purposes these statements will give a working con- 
ception of the system as it is. 



England 41 

Student-Teachers. — Class-one students leave the elemen- 
tary school at fourteen years of age and take up academic 
training in the secondary school until they are able to pass 
the examination to a training college. They then remain 
in the secondary school for further academic work, serving 
as student-teachers in the elementary school on some pay. 
This class of student-teacher is found only where secondary 
schools are strong and help is needed in the elementary schools. 
The percentage is small, only a trifle over one per cent. His 
preparation is fairly good, as he has had an elementary school 
course and several years in the secondary school academic 
work, with a year of practical observation and practice in 
elementary school work. In this respect he is stronger than 
the pupil-teacher in class two. He may now go on to one of 
the training colleges and leave this class, or remain in it and, 
by passing a preliminary examination, become an uncertif- 
icated teacher at 18 years of age. About one fourth of the 
teachers belong to this class. Many of these teachers, by 
private study, correspondence courses, or local oral classes, 
prepare for the Board's examination and secure the teachers' 
certificate. 

The Board regards this class as undesirable, especially 
those who have come up with the minimum amount of aca- 
demic and professional training in some recognized school. 
The Board is discouraging this class, as is shown in part by 
the fact that the fee for the examination has recently been 
doubled and that about 70% of the applicants fail to pass 
the examinations. 

Pupil-Teachers. — Class- two (2) students go from the 
elementary school to some preparatory center connected 
with an institution for the training of pupil-teachers or in 



42 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

some local approved preparatory class. Then he is given 
a one- or two-year course while he is from 14 to 16 years of 
age. These preparatory classes and pupil-teacher centers 
are found only in rural districts and small towns where there 
are ho secondary schools and are, therefore, a makeshift for 
the training of rural teachers. The Board safeguards these 
schools as best it can. At 16 years of age the pupil enters 
the pupil-teacher center as a pupil-teacher, receiving instruc- 
tion and also employment in the local school at a small salary. 
This course lasts one year, at the end of which the student 
is supposed to be able to take the entrance examination to 
enter the training colleges or the Universities. Or, he may 
take the preliminary examinations and enter the body of 
uncertificated teachers as above described. 

A deficiency of properly trained rural teachers has caused 
the Board recently to revive the pupil-teacher system in rural 
districts. But it has done it in a way very different from 
the old method. It does not permit the pupil-teacher to teach 
more than half the day, and he does not count on the staff. 

For the purpose of enabling worthy students to take this 
course, the Board has increased the grant from twenty pounds 
to forty-two pounds, more than double, for pupils living out- 
side the range of secondary schools. These pupils are taught 
by head teachers, or by special teachers in the central classes. 
The Board strongly urges the increase of " maintenance 
allowances " by local authorities, so as to relieve the family 
of the cost of a student's living while he is in school. The 
Board has felt impelled to take these steps in view of the 
fact that the training colleges are supplying less than half of 
the 9000 new teachers required annually to fill vacancies. 
This condition seems more perplexing in consideration of 



England 43 

the fact that the number of pupils entering upon preparation 
in the training colleges decreased from 11,078 in 1906-07 to 
4486 in 1 9 13-14. The causes of this are doubtless the long 
and costly term of preparation and the low wage offered in 
comparison with the ready employment with fair wages in 
other vocations that do not call for so long and expensive 
a course of training. 

Bursars. — Class- three (3) students go from the elemen- 
tary school into the secondary school as ordinary students 
in academic work from fourteen to sixteen years of age, 
and then each becomes what is known as a bursar, in the sec- 
ondary school, for one year. For this appointment he is care- 
fully selected as one fit in every way to become a teacher. 
He makes a declaration of his intention to enter the teaching 
profession and in return receives a grant from the government 
and the local council covering his fees and a part or all of his 
maintenance. The bursar dififers from the pupil-teacher and 
the student-teacher in the fact that he continues his secondary 
academic training without doing any teaching in the elemen- 
tary school. His practice training is deferred till a later period. 
This method is the one preferred by the Board rather than 
the pupil-teacher or student-teacher methods. The bursar 
spends one year as such and then goes on to the training 
college or University, or continues another year in the second- 
ary school as a student-teacher. 

During his year as bursar he is expected to complete the 
examination for entrance to the training school, even though 
he remains in the secondary school as a student-teacher. The 
student who goes on from the position of bursar to the training 
college prepares there for the final examination for a teacher's 
certificate. 



44 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The Training Colleges. — The course in the teachers' train- 
ing college is ordinarily two years, but may be extended to 
three by special provision. The course in the department 
of education in the University leading to a degree is four years. 
These students receive grants for which they obligate them- 
selves to teach either in the elementary or secondary schools. 
The grant amounts to the fees and some additional on main- 
tenance. In this respect England is doing more to help the 
individual pupil-teacher than is the United States. But the 
training he receives is largely professional, as the theory of 
the Board is that the academic work should have been done 
in the secondary school. For this reason practice teaching 
is given a large place even in the first year's work in the 
college. Not only is the academic work minimized, but the 
education theory courses are relatively neglected. The 
American normal schools and education departments are 
doing far more in the scientific training of teachers than are 
the English training colleges. But on the art side the latter 
are thoroughly alive, and every member of the faculty par- 
ticipates in the supervision of the practice teaching of his 
respective subject. 

In 191 2-13, there were in England and Wales, 87 training 
colleges for teachers, with 11,126 students, of whom 70 % were 
women and 30 % were men. For that year the entire ex- 
penditure of public funds for these colleges was $1,345,824, 
which was two thirds of the total cost, the other third being 
met by fees and endowments. Of the public funds, the state 
grants were 92 % and the local grants only 8 %. These figures 
show clearly that the government is making the problem of 
the professional training of teachers a national afifair. Even 
for the building and equipment of a training college, the 



England 45 

government gives as much as 75 % of the cost. Through 
this generous support by the government many localities are 
constructing magnificent training college plants. Of the 87 
training colleges, six are of university rank with four-year 
courses. About one half of the entire number are vol- 
untary training colleges, which shows the extent to which 
the church continues its traditional hold upon the training 
of teachers. 

Examinations for Certificates. — There are three different 
types of examinations by which teachers are certificated. 
First, the Board itself conducts examinations for all applicants 
who meet the general requirements. These examinations 
are in English, history, geography, mathematics, principles 
of teaching, hygiene, and theory of music. Candidates may 
enter these examinations who have not gone through any 
training colleges. Second, a joint examining body from the 
Board and the faculties of the training colleges examines the 
graduates of the training colleges. Third, a similar body, 
representing the Board and the universities, examines the 
graduates of the universities. 

A fourth method applies to teachers of domestic science and 
other special subjects. For these the Board recognizes their 
diplomas in lieu of a certificate. 

These certificates are of two special values to teachers: 
(i) They give the teacher a rating in the stafT of schools for 
government grants, and (2) they qualify a teacher for a re- 
tiring allowance. 

Teachers' Annuities. — The present system of government 
pensions to teachers in England and Wales was established 
by the Act of 1898 and modified by the Act of 191 2, with 
liberal tendencies. It is the outgrowth of many attempts 



46 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

by both the government and private organizations to give 
relief to superannuated teachers. The system is administered 
by the Board of Education. The schedule is not based upon 
the teachers' salaries, but is arbitrarily fixed. Only certifi- 
cated teachers share in its privileges. 

The main provisions for eligibility are as follows: (i) 
The teacher must hold a regular certificate from the Board 
of Education and must be employed in a school receiving 
government grants. (2) Every such teacher must contribute 
to the Deferred Annuity Fund the amount of $16.25 for men 
and $12 for women. These amounts are withheld annually 
by the Board from the grants to local councils and by them 
deducted from the teachers' salaries. (3) After a teacher 
reaches the age of 65 years, he is entitled to retire upon an- 
nuity, the amount of which is fixed by tables prepared by the 
Board of Education. (4) A physical examination is required 
of all applicants for recognition as certificated teachers, at 
the applicant's expense, by medical officers nominated by the 
Board of Education. For this examination the applicant pays 
a fee of $2.50. 

(5) A disablement allowance is granted, at intervals not 
exceeding three years, to teachers in recorded service whose 
disablement was no fault of their own. (6) A teacher out of 
service a year or longer, or women teachers who get married, 
are disqualified to receive an annuity unless by special pro- 
vision. (7) Teachers may remain in service after 65 years 
of age and draw both salary and pension, though they are 
no longer recognized by the Board for the purpose of grants, 
a condition that automatically reduces this number to a 
minimum. 

(8) Teachers in secondary schools and teachers' training 



England 47 

colleges are excluded from participation in the pension system. 
It is to be understood that there are many modifications of 
the above regulations which are intended to be only a general 
statement of the provisions of the pension system. The 
annuities are very small, though they are increasing annually. 
In 1912, the March payroll of annuitants distributed $19,020 
to 1294 men and $10,825 to 1142 women. This was a little 
less than $15 to men and $10 to women. This amount is 
determined on the basis of experience available regarding 
rates of interest on the annuity fund and the mortality of 
teachers. 

As an attempt at the solution of the pension problem, 
England has made only a beginning. Her theory of a state- 
wide system is correct. But the policy of establishing a fund 
solely on the basis of withheld salaries is without economic 
justification. Likewise, the exclusion of the large class of 
non-certificated teachers from participation in the pension 
system is unjustifiable on the basis of payment for service. 
However, the provision that certificated teachers shall receive 
annuities on the basis of the length of service is correct, and 
it should be extended to all teachers in service. If England 
secures stability of service and a satisfied teaching staff, she 
will have to reorganize her pension system on the basis of 
length of service, amount of salary, and payment by the gov- 
ernment, without contributory provisions from the teachers. 

Health Insurance. — Relative to the uncertificated teachers, 
it is interesting to note that the compulsory insurance law of 
191 2 requires all teachers not on the pension list, whose 
salaries are less than $800, to carry a health policy. The 
assessments to provide this fund are from three sources : (i) 
the teacher pays per week 8 cents, if a man, or 6 cents, if a 



48 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

woman, (2) the employer pays 6 cents, and (3) the state pays 
4 cents for men and 6 cents for women. Provision is made 
by which the teacher may carry a poHcy in some approved 
society rather than with the state, thereby receiving certain 
commercial protection on his policy, when assessments are 
interrupted, as they may be in broken service. 

In addition to the above general provisions for pensioning 
or insuring teachers, there exist local systems of pensioning 
in London, Manchester, and a few other cities, that in some 
respects embody the more desirable features lacking in the 
government system. But, at the best, local systems can be 
only supplementary and transient. They confine teachers 
to a narrow territorial service and are not conducive to a 
state-wide efficient service. 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

In the field of trade and technical education England is 
manifesting great interest. Three main groups or grades 
of such education are being provided : (i) lower or junior 
technical education for pupils 14 to 18 years of age, who plan 
to enter at once into some trade, (2) middle technical educa- 
tion for pupils from 16 and above who have had some ex- 
perience in trades and who plan to become speciaHsts or 
managers in trades, (3) higher technical education for those 
with a thorough secondary education for pupils from 18 and 
above who plan to become technical experts. 

A great development has been made of the lower and middle 
grades of this work through voluntary evening technical 
schools. In London alone, in 191 2, there were reported 
35,000 students in evening technical classes. In this city, 
and also in several others, day technical schools as well as 



England 49 

evening classes are quite generously maintained. London 
supports 17 technical institutions and gives aid to 36 others, 
including the Imperial College of Science and Technology in 
London University and the technical classes of the University 
College. The Council makes scholarship grants direct to 
these institutions and also gives an annual maintenance grant 
of $40 to $60 to each pupil for a period of two years. 
In some cases arrangements are made between the employers 
and school officials for a scale of wages based upon the efh- 
ciency of the workmen and for a day school in which these 
workmen may spend a part of each week in technical training. 
Such provisions are looking toward compulsory continuation 
schools for all pupils from 14 to 18 years of age, as is being 
strongly advocated. The guiding aim in the development 
of technical classes and schools is to offer a wide range of 
courses so as to reach all industrial classes. 

In this respect England is said to be superior to Germany 
and France, both of which countries are more primarily in- 
terested in the training of expert technical leaders. The 
policy of England in this work, as in all other phases of 
education, is to let the locality take the initiative in organizing 
technical institutions and then wait upon the government 
for recognition and aid. This principle is the genius of her 
modern democracy. It is not a spirit of indifference, but a 
policy of conviction and caution. The cause of technical 
education is being strongly championed by the Association 
of Teachers in Technical Institutions — a body of more than 
twelve hundred members — that was organized in 1904. 
This organization urges the lengthening of the course in the 
elementary technical schools beyond two years, with a strong 
course, not only in science and mathematics with the tech- 



50 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

nical subjects, but also in English literature, history, and the 
principles of citizenship. The large body of boys and girls, 
between 14 and 18 years of age, not in any school, is estimated 
by the President of the Board of Education to be more than 
2,000,000. This condition he characterizes as " the greatest 
blot " on the EngUsh school system. 

For this type of technical education the government spent 
in 191 2-13, for elementary schools $2,772,400, and for second- 
ary schools $2,853,792, a total of $5,626,192. This is Uberal 
for the less than 5 % that are in school, but, as shown above, 
there are 95 %, or 2,000,000, of the age 14 to 18 not in school. 
They are presumably prematurely employed in the trades. 
They should be reached by compulsory continuation schools 
of various kinds, preferably technical and trade. 

However, it must be remembered in this connection that 
provision is already made for the encouragement by special 
grants of the teaching of vocational subjects in the regular 
elementary and secondary schools necessary for the govern- 
ment grants. 

The effort thus far has developed, it is conservatively 
estimated in the lack of definite statistics, only about fifty 
of the pre-apprenticeship schools and the trade schools com- 
bined. To these should be added the many similar schools 
of domestic science for girls that have been organized quite 
generally in towns throughout all of England and Wales. 
Although the Board of Education and the technical teachers 
are enthusiastic about this work, yet the employers have not 
given their full confidence to these schools as a competent 
substitute for the apprenticeship system which they have 
displaced. 

The girls' schools, it is claimed, have been more successful 



England 51 

than the boys' schools in winning for their graduates the recog- 
nition desired. 

The higher technical education is provided for in the local 
universities, technical schools, and the department of tech- 
nology of the London Institute. The seventeen regional 
universities and colleges in England and Wales that have 
recently grown up in the great manufacturing centers are 
modern in spirit and purpose. They are quite generally 
well equipped for training the artisan classes in evening 
courses and for the advanced instruction in special technical 
subjects. The two great Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 
and the University of London, have also introduced modern 
subjects of a scientific and technical character under the influ- 
ence of the acts of Parliament in the interest of advanced en- 
gineering. The Imperial College of Science of the University 
of London, by arrangements with the Board of Education, has 
become a central institution to furnish standards and methods 
for the teaching of science and technology throughout the 
country. For this purpose the Board has estabhshed in this 
institution special scholarships for teachers of science and 
technology who are qualified to enter the third or fourth year 
of the course at the Imperial College. 

THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES 

The Old Ideals. — Every scholar knows of Oxford and 
Cambridge, the mothers of great men and movements. Their 
histories are written in the fives of individuals and nations. 
These two institutions stand for the highest and best that 
there is in English fife. They are the centers of learning and 
culture of the purely Engfish type. They are both classical 
in their curricula and yet scientific in a truly modern sense. 



52 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

But they seek first to make men rather than to discover truth. 
The German universities have stood for the latter. The 
American universities stand for both, but so far in a lesser 
degree. As a consequence of the Oxford and Cambridge 
method of higher education in England the EngHsh philos- 
opher has been individualistic and independent in thought, 
and the EngUsh citizen throughout the world has been demo- 
cratic in spirit. 

New Spirit and New Type. — The democracy of the Eng- 
land that is to be will be given shape by a modified Oxford 
and Cambridge and a joint influence of the great Municipal 
University of London with her twenty-six federated colleges 
and the seventeen local regional universities and colleges 
that have grown up in recent years in the manufacturing 
centers of England and Wales. These latter, though tech- 
nical in character, are sufiiciently cultural to train leaders 
in thought as well as in technical industries. England and 
Wales have now an array of universities that reflect the mod- 
ern spirit and tendencies quite as much as do the elementary 
and secondary schools. These newer universities and colleges 
are Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Notting- 
ham, Reading, Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester, and 
London. 

Universities Branch of the Board of Education. — The 
relation of the government to the universities is provided for 
by the recent estabhshment of the Universities Branch of 
the Board of Education. This special provision is made in 
recognition of the greater need of freedom on the part of 
universities than in elementary and secondary education. 
The government grants to these institutions are for the aid 
of technological and professional instruction. 



England 53 

Evidence of Modern Influence. — As evidence of the broad 
and democratic tendency in the universities the following 
facts testify : (i) Women are found in these institutions 
practically on an equal footing with men, though Oxford and 
Cambridge do not confer degrees upon them. (2) In the older 
universities the expansion of the curriculum and the intro- 
duction of new degrees for graduates of modern departments 
has marked the recent progress. (3) Likewise, the establish- 
ment of a common entrance examination board by the North- 
ern Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Sheffield 
is a movement towards the organization of the higher insti- 
tutions of learning in the recognition of their joint responsi- 
bihty to the Kfe of the nation. (4) The ancient Universities 
of Oxford and Cambridge, founded in 1140 and 1200 respec- 
tively, are showing a remarkable capability of response to 
modern demands. Beginning as early in the modern move- 
ments as the seventies of the nineteenth centur}^, these two 
institutions have established extension lectures, inaugurated 
a system of entrance examinations for graduates of secondary 
schools, made partial provisions for women students, and 
established research courses in public health, forestry, educa- 
tion, and economics. (5) These movements have been further 
extended since 1908 in both of these universities through the es- 
tablishment of tutorial classes in cooperation with the Workers' 
Educational Association for the improvement of the working 
class. These courses extend through three years, meeting 
once a week for twenty-four weeks, in two-hour sessions. 
The group is limited to thirty pupils who are obligated to 
attend the full three years. The tutors are selected from the 
university faculties and the Workers' Association. (6) At 
Cambridge, the Cavendish Laboratory, established in 187 1, 



54 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

has become a " world center " for mathematical and physical 
research for both men and women. This fact is given as 
strong evidence of the new spirit permeating all English 
educational institutions. (7) The University of London, 
chartered in 1836 as a degree-conferring institution, was 
transformed into a complete university in 1898, thus federating 
more than thirty colleges, hitherto existing as isolated insti- 
tutions, into one system. These federated colleges are com- 
posed of fifteen teaching colleges, thirteen medical colleges, 
the Imperial College of Science and Technology, referred to 
above, and other lesser institutions of a technical character. 
Further developments are under way for the concentration 
in this university of the highest order of instruction and re- 
search for the guidance of education throughout the kingdom. 
(8) The local or regional universities named above are the 
outgrowth of democratic impulses and industrial needs. They 
have all grown up since 1880 and the most of them since 
1900. The purpose of all these younger universities is to be 
of service in the industrial world and to improve the general 
welfare of mankind. Each of them is situated in a great 
industrial and commercial center and has shaped its course 
of study to meet the needs of its environment. The course 
of study offers classical studies, modern languages and sciences, 
and various branches of engineering, technology, agriculture, 
commerce, and education. They have kept in close touch 
with the new public school system, to which they are rendering 
a valuable service through the extensive provision for the 
training of teachers. 

These local universities and the federated colleges of Lon- 
don University draw their support from the public treasury 
as follows, — 28% for the English institutions, and 53^% 



England 55 

for the Welsh colleges. The remainder of their expenses 
is met by fees, endowments, local authorities, and private 
parties. The total appropriations by the government, in 
1909-10, for this group of institutions, was $3,123,040. 

The Rhodes Scholarships. — The most beautiful testi- 
monial of the love of an alumnus for his Alma Mater, and at 
the same time a patriotic expression of his abiding beUef in 
the eternal worth of the ideals for which his country stands, 
is found in the will of Cecil John Rhodes by which he perma- 
nently endowed the three groups of Colonial, American, and 
German scholarships in Oxford University. 

The purpose of these scholarships is to bring to Oxford 
promising young men from the colonies of the British Empire 
and train them for leadership under the ideals and influence 
of the institution that best represents EngUsh life, and to 
bring from America and Germany young men who will come 
to understand the purposes and ideals of English Hfe, as a 
result of their study in Oxford, and use for all time their in- 
fluence to keep the three great nations of the earth in mutual 
understanding and peace. 

Oxford was chosen in preference to other English univer- 
sities because she was his Alma Mater and because she is a 
residential institution and therefore the better prepared to 
give the proper care and supervision to students from 
abroad. 

The scholarships apply to any of the twenty colleges of 
the University of Oxford for a term of three years. 

The number of scholarships includes 78 for the British 
colonies, two for each of the states and territories of the 
United States, and five for Germany. The amount of the 
scholarship is $1500 for the colonies and the United States 



56 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

and $1250 for Germany. The details in the administration 
of the fund were left for the trustees to handle. 

The qualifications for selection to these scholarships are 
such as are thought to safeguard the choice of none but the 
most promising from the standpoint of all the elements of 
manhood necessary to the highest type of world leadership. 
In addition to the entrance examinations required by Oxford 
of all students, each locality may have its own standard. In 
the United States the applicant must have completed the 
sophomore year in a degree-granting college. 

It is interesting to notice from the report of the Rhodes 
scholars for the year 191 2-13 that of 431 who have left Oxford 
144, more than one third, have entered upon educational 
work, and 113, more than one fourth, have entered upon law. 

The real value of this endowment depends primarily upon 
the type of men selected, just as is true in all walks of life. It 
certainly does offer to the world the contribution of Oxford 
on the basis of a lofty motive. And, no doubt, there will 
be enough leaders sent from Oxford under the inspiration of 
English ideals to satisfy the expectations of the founder. 
However, the question of the advisability of sending young 
men to a foreign university before they are out of their teens 
is an open one. 

RURAL EDUCATION 

Character of Movement. — The movement in England 
for rural education is a broad one, looking to the improve- 
ment of every phase of country life for both child and adult. 
Continental countries have developed this type of work ahead 
of England, but the latter country is now moving along the 
lines suggested by the experience of the former countries, 



England 57 

and in harmony with the social, industrial, and climatic con- 
ditions of her island home. The agencies working in coopera- 
tion for the improvement of rural conditions include the Board 
of Education, the Association of County Councils, the Central 
Land Association, the Central Chamber of Agriculture, and 
the Farmers' Club. 

Immediate Aims. — Recent conferences of these organiza- 
tions have been directed toward the following ends: (i) a 
better adaptation of the school curriculum to the needs of the 
rural districts through the introduction of nature study, 
elementary agriculture, gardening, and manual training, 
(2) the establishment of scholarships for rural boys in the 
secondary schools and continuation courses for the study there 
of specially provided courses for farmers' boys, (3) the group- 
ing of counties around agricultural colleges or centers for the 
training of adult farmers in modern methods of farming and 
farm industries. This movement has been made more press- 
ing by the " Small Holdings and Allotments Act of 1807," 
which is greatly improving and stimulating the economic 
conditions in rural life. (4) The closer correlation of the 
Board of Education and the Board of Agriculture and the 
direction of the local work through trained experts. 

Present Status of Activities. — Many counties have edu- 
cation staffs of their own engaged in this rural uplift work, 
some of which are assisted by experts from some center. 
The Board has prepared a scheme for county organization 
to meet the needs of the various agencies interested. Voca- 
tional subjects are taught in all of the elementary and higher 
elementary schools, and in the rural districts a special bias 
is given to the whole course to meet rural needs. In the 
training colleges special courses are given in rural sciences 



58 Modem Education in Europe and the Orient 

for rural teachers. The importance of this appears great in 
view of the fact that 41% of the elementary school children 
are in the rural schools. 

During the five years ending March 3, 191 6, the govern- 
ment spent $4,500,000 for purposes of agricultural research 
and instruction from the special development fund created 
in 1909. A large number of agricultural colleges and depart- 
ments of agriculture in the regional universities are aided 
by government grants. All in all, the situation looks very 
hopeful for a better education for the English rural commu- 
nity. The method of dealing with the problem in England 
is more like that in the United States than those used in such 
countries as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, though not so 
efficient as the latter. 

RELIGION AND EDUCATION 

Its Significance. — The religious question, because of the 
long period of church establishment in England, has stood 
stubbornly in the way of a national system of education. It 
is the cause of the present dual system and of many of the 
other complexities in all types of English schools. Since the 
inauguration of the elementary pubhc schools in 1870, there 
have been many threatened religious eruptions, but just 
now the conditions are so peaceful and promising that the 
religious subject is seldom injected into the discussions of 
the educational reforms. 

Board Regulations Regarding. — The regulations of the 
Board of Education permit the denominations owning the 
non-provided buildings to teach the religion of their faith 
to their own children during out-of-school hours. The second- 
ary schools have been opened by means of the grant pro- 



England 59 

visions to pupils regardless of their religious faith. The 
training colleges have been required to throw open at least 
half of the vacant places to students without reference to their 
religion. No religious test is made by the Board of Educa- 
tion of the teachers for the purposes of grants, certificates, 
or pensions. 

Persistent Difficulties. — A majority of parents continue to 
desire religious instruction in the secular schools, which pre- 
vents, for some time at least, a purely secular system of public 
education. In single school areas, that is, where there is 
only a church school, the local authorities recruit the teaching 
staff from the adherents, to the exclusion of the non-conform- 
ists. In turn the latter ask exemption from the local school 
tax. The richly-endowed schools may waive the government 
grant and exclude all nonconformists. These and other 
conditions keep the religious question in the public conscious- 
ness more or less and will continue to tax the ingenuity of the 
Board and Parliament to keep peace and deal justly. The 
rapid rate at which the church schools are placing themselves 
under the Board of Education shows the drift of public sen- 
timent towards secularization. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Discuss the method of "payment by results" as established by 
the Act of 1 86 1. 

2. Describe the dual system of board and voluntary schools in 
England and show what progress has been made through this system 
toward free secular education. 

3. Show the merits of the present system under the Act of 1902 over 
the dual system which it supplanted. 

4. Compare the English compulsory school law and its machinery for 
enforcing attendance with the compulsory attendance law in your state. 



6o Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

5. Contrast the spirit of freedom in English education with the 
centralized control in French education. 

6. Explain the Juvenile Employment Act of 1910 and discuss its 
social significance. 

7. Show how by the method of government grants the private second- 
ary schools of England are being absorbed into the public system. 

8. Write a brief history and description of one of the "Great Public 
Schools." 

9. Make a drawing or pictogram showing the three methods by 
which a teacher may enter the teaching profession and eventually be- 
come a certificated teacher in regular service. 

10. Describe student life in Oxford. 

Special Bibliography 

Balfour, Graham. Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland, 
1903, Oxford, England. 

Egerton, H. The Maintenance of Denominational Teaching, 1905, 
London, England. 

The Education Bill of 1906 for England and Wales, Bulletin No. i, 1906, 
United States Bureau of Education, Washington, D.C. 

JuDD, Charles H. The Training of Teachers in England, Scotland, and 
Germany, Bulletin, 1914, No. 35, United States Bureau of Education, 
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 

Kandel, I. L. Elementary Education in England, Bulletin, 1913, 
No. 57, United States Bureau of Education, Government Printing 
Ofiice, Washington, D.C. 

Sadler, Michael E. Continuation Schools in England and Elsewhere, 
Manchester, England, 1907. 

Sharpless, Isaac. English Education, 1892, Appleton and Company, 
New York. 

SiES, Raymond W. Teachers' Pensions Systems in Great Britain, 
Bulletin, 1913, No. 34, United States Bureau of Education, Govern- 
ment Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 

Thwing, C. F. Universities of the World, 1911, The Macmillan Com- 
pany, New York. 



SCOTLAND 

CHAPTER II 

The Government. — In 1707, Scotland and England united 
as the kingdom of Great Britain. By terms of this union 
the Scottish Parliament was abolished and Scottish repre- 
sentatives were thenceforth to be elected to each house of 
the English Parliament, sixteen members to the House of 
Lords and, at that time, forty-five, but since 1885, seventy- 
two members to the House of Commons. All laws regarding 
commerce and trade, of mutual interest to the two countries, 
were to be uniform, but the laws of Scotland regarding local 
matters, such as church, school, justice, etc., were to remain 
in force, subject to revision by the common parliament. 
One member of the Cabinet is the secretary for Scotland. 

ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 

Basis of Administration. — The administration of the 
Scottish schools is based upon the Education Act of 1872, 
supplemented by several subsequent acts. The Act of 1872 
created the Scotch education department and established 
the school board system, but did not include secondary edu- 
cation or the universities. The administration of secondary 
schools was provided for by the Act of 1892, and of the uni- 
versities by the Act of 1889. 

61 



62 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Administrative Bodies. — The administrative bodies in 
the Scottish education system are: (i) the Scotch education 
department, (2) local school boards or private owners or 
endowment trustees, (3) secondary education committees, 
(4) the Scottish university committee of the Privy Council, 
and (5) a provincial committee in charge of the training of 
teachers. 

The education department consists of five members ap- 
pointed by the crown from the Lords of the Privy Council. 
The Cabinet secretary for Scotland is now president of the 
committee and is held responsible to Parliament for the 
administration of the department. The department also 
has a permanent secretary and a staff of officers. This de- 
partment has full charge of education in Scotland. For 
convenience in administration the country is divided into four 
divisions and each supplied with a staff of officers and in- 
spectors. 

The school board is the local school body. It is elected 
by the local ratepayers for a term of three years. Its main 
duties are to provide every phase of school work for pupils 
during the compulsory school age of five to fourteen. Each 
board dispenses its own school fund. 

The voluntary and endowed schools receiving grants handle 
their own affairs independent of the local board, and in direct 
relation to the department. 

The secondary education committees are composed of 
members elected locally in each of the thirty-nine districts. 
The duties of these committees pertain to every phase of 
secondary education, including the administration of the 
secondary education grants. 

The Scottish universities committee of the Privy Council 



Scotland 63 

is a body with but little power as it has no money to dis- 
pense. It serves as a unifying body in the case of a disagree- 
ment among the universities relative to proposed ordinances. 
The policy of the government is to make the universities 
self-governing as far as is practical. The real control of the 
universities in relation to the government is through the 
treasury department, and through the regulations of the 
department relative to the leaving certificate from the second- 
ary schools for admission to the universities. 

The grants for technical colleges and continuation classes 
are administered by the department jointly with the local 
boards or managers of these local schools. 

The administration of the system of training teachers is 
through four provincial committees, one for each of the four 
university centers. Each committee has a staff of instructors 
and an executive head. 

Education Act of 1908. — The Education Act of 1908 stimu- 
lated the work of the education system very materially. 
This act left the parish as the local unit of administration 
and gave to the elected school boards greatly increased powers 
with regard to both elementary and secondary schools. These 
enlarged powers of the boards relate to the general welfare of 
the children, the lengthening of the school attendance, and the 
improved facilities for secondary education. Under general 
welfare the most important provision was for a complete 
system of medical inspection. 

SPECL\L FEATURES OF THE OLD SCOTTISH SCHOOLS 

Old Types of Schools. — Before the reformation monastic 
and cathedral schools of the continental type existed in Scot- 
land. From these church schools grew up burgh or grammar 



64 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

(classical) schools under the support of the town councils, 
but supervised largely by the church. From these schools 
arose the demand for higher education, which led in the fif- 
teenth century to the founding of the three earliest Scottish 
universities of St. Andrew in 141 1, Glasgow in 1450, and 
Aberdeen in 1494. These universities came in response to 
a popular demand for a broader and a more extensive edu- 
cation than the church schools and the burgh or grammar 
schools could give, just as the burgh schools were more popu- 
lar in their courses than the church schools. Even this early 
the control of education began to pass from the church to the 
town councils. The founding of these universities provided 
higher education at home for the throngs of Scottish students 
that hitherto had flocked to Oxford, Paris, and other foreign 
universities. The subjects taught in these universities were 
the trivium, quadrivium, canon law, civil law, medicine, 
and theology. Their aim was primarily ecclesiastical, rather 
than educational. Their support was largely from the church, 
but through interested individuals. Such in brief was the 
condition of education at the beginning of the reformation. 

Effect of the Reformation. — The period, 1560 to 1872, 
shows the results of the reformation upon education in several 
definite respects. The barons and nobles at the time of the 
reformation took the larger share of the property of the old 
church and left the newly-established church, the Presby- 
terian, with but small means for the support of education. 
The town or municipal councils and the church worked to- 
gether in the maintenance of burgh and parish schools, 
though for the most part, the church controlled the school 
even to the appointment and dismissal of the teachers. 
Support for schools for the poor was sought in every direction 



Scotland 65 

to such an extent that schools were actually kept open in 
nearly every town in the land for more than three hundred 
years, prior to the beginning of the present system in 1872. 
Possibly in no other country was education so widely pro- 
vided for both rich and poor during that same period. This 
splendid condition was due to the deep interest of the church 
in education as manifested by their contributions and super- 
vision, to the gifts and bequests of benevolent persons for 
the education of the poor, and to the civic interest of burgh 
and town councils through public appropriations to the local 
schools. 

John Knox and the Book of Discipline. — The policy of 
the Reformation in Scotland toward education is set forth 
in the Book of Discipline framed by the reformer under 
the guiding intelligence and foresight of the immortal John 
Knox. Knox's scheme provided for an elementary school 
in every parish and a secondary school or college in every 
larger town, and a system of universities — all offering edu- 
cation to rich and poor alike. But this scheme was opposed 
by the adherents of the displaced church and also by the rich 
nobility of the reformed church who selfishl}- declined to give 
of their wealth to the support of education. 

Presbytery vs. Episcopacy. — During the 136 years from 
1560 to 1696 life in the five universities, which were insepa- 
rably connected with the church, was in a continual state of 
change and unrest. The seven alternations between Presby- 
tery and Episcopacy were in many ways detrimental to edu- 
cational progress. Each of the two churches, when in power, 
claimed, and Parliament repeatedly sanctioned the control 
of education by the church, thus making the church respon- 
sible for the rise and decline of the schools and universities. 



66 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Church and Town Councils. — Beginning with 1760 there 
was manifested a desire in certain localities, as Perth, Dundee, 
Ayr, and others, for schools with a more liberal and practical 
curriculum than that given in the traditional Latin grammar 
schools. This led to the establishment of academies either 
by the town councils or by private parties. Toward these 
schools the church was antagonistic and even attempted to 
prevent parents from sending their children to them. How- 
ever, there were fifty or more of this commercial-scientific 
type of academies when the present system was inaugurated 
in 1872. 

During this period there was continuous controversy be- 
tween the church and the town councils over the appoint- 
ment and dismissal of teachers. The church demanded that 
teachers should sign the Confession or be members of the 
established church, and Parliament demanded of them an 
oath of allegiance to the crown. But the town councils 
and proprietors of private schools, supported by the steadily 
growing spirit of liberality, gradually won over the eccle- 
siastical influences, until at the beginning of the modern sys- 
tem there were but 50 members of the church of Scotland 
in the faculties of 113 burgh schools or academies. 

Educational Institute of Scotland. — The teaching body 
in Scotland had become so large and so influential that in 
1847 they organized the Educational Institute of Scotland 
and secured in 185 1 a royal charter of incorporation. The 
purposes of this organization were to provide for the certif- 
ication of properly qualified teachers, looking to their improve- 
ment and the raising of the standard of education in general. 
The Institute, while acknowledging the importance of reli- 
gious education, resolved to certificate competent teachers 



Scotland 67 

without making the question of their religious faith a test. 
This organization has continued to increase in members and 
influence to the present time. It now has about twelve 
thousand members divided into fifty-two local associations. 
Its newer functions pertain to the granting of aid to needy 
members or to their families, and to the organization and use 
of the political influence of the Institute. 

Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in Scotland. 
— At the opening of the i8th century the condition of both 
church and school in the Highlands and islands of Scotland 
was very discouraging in comparison with that in other parts. 
This was due to the poverty and remoteness of these districts 
and to the prevalence there of the Gaelic language to which 
the people themselves were attached, but which Parliament 
and the church desired to abolish. To improve this condi- 
tion philanthropic Christian gentlemen secured a patent in 
1709 organizing the " Society for Propagating Christian 
Knowledge in Scotland." The membership was to be Prot- 
estants, but consisted of both Presbyterians and Episcopa- 
lians. The churches gave sympathy and assistance to this 
movement. The capital of the society at its beginning was 
only $5000, but this continued to grow until the incomes 
during the middle of the 19th century amounted to $25,000 
annually. 

In 1846, the Court of Sessions ruled that all teachers re- 
ceiving aid from this society must be members of the estab- 
lished church, but this decision did not decrease the effort 
or the expenditure of the society. During the days of its 
greatest activity the society had as many as 134 schools 
under its maintenance. 

Three other societies, the Gaelic Society of Edinburgh, 



68 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

of Glasgow, and of Inverness, were organized in the first 
quarter of the 19th century with the more specific purpose 
of preserving the GaeHc language to the 171 parishes with a 
population of 416,000 Gaelic-speaking people. These three 
societies supported nearly two hundred schools. The schools 
of the four above societies were gradually reduced in num- 
bers as the establishment of schools by local rates was begun. 
After 1872 these schools were no longer needed. The direc- 
tors of the S. P. C. K. schools established with their funds 
a system of bursaries to aid students in secondary schools 
and Gaelic-speaking students in universities. The funds of 
this society amounted to $926,800 in 1885 when four fifths 
of it was transferred to the " Trust for Education in the 
Highlands and Islands of Scotland," the other fifth being 
retained by the society for strictly religious purposes. Grants 
of $300 were paid from this trust in 1905 to each of the 14 
center schools. This society now has an enviable record 
of two hundred and seven years of educational work, through 
devotion to humanity, language, and religion. 

General Assembly and Sessional Schools. — In 1825, 
more than a hundred years after the organization of the S. P. 
C. K., the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and 
the Sessional of the Free Church organized committees to 
establish schools in neglected districts of all Scotland. They 
maintained several hundred schools up to 1872 when these 
schools became Board schools or passed out of existence. 

Parish Schools. — By an Act of the Scottish ParHament 
in 1 61 6 there were provisions made for the establishment 
of a school in every parish in accord with Knox's plan. This 
was to be a school above the elementary work of the several 
types of schools described above, and for the purpose of pre- 



Scotland 69 

paring students to enter the- universities. The scheme was 
far from realized, but through repeated aids from Parhament 
during the first half of the 19th century these parish schools 
increased in number to 1049, of which number 124 were on 
the government list. These parish schools had two distinct 
purposes, the religious education of the youth and the fitting 
of apt students for the universities. 

David Stowe and Training of Teachers. — For the parish 
and burgh schools there was no system of scientific training 
of teachers, except that of the conventional stereotyped 
method. In 1826 David Stowe, who was giving his life 
zealously to Mission work, organized the Glasgow Infant 
School Society for the instruction of children and the train- 
ing of teachers. Later, this model school was taken over by 
the Glasgow Dundas Vale Training College. The character 
of this training college was undenominational and national. 
Becoming involved in debts the college appealed to the 
Privy Council on Education for aid, which was granted only 
on condition that the college be transferred to the General 
Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Branches of this school 
in other cities were treated in the same manner, so that after 
the disruption in 1843 Stowe and many of his colleagues, 
being members of the Free Church, were forced out of the 
colleges which they had established. Not to be daunted they 
built up similar institutions under the patronage of the 
Free Church, aided also by the Privy Council. The Epis- 
copal Church also built a training college in Edinburgh, in 
1850. These training colleges under church supervision 
supplied all that can be called scientific training of teachers 
until the introduction of pupil-teacher training in 1847 under 
the examinations of the government inspector. 



70 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

THE PRESENT SCOTTISH SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS 

Act of 1872. — The present system of education in Scot- 
land was organized under the Education Act of 1872. The 
special provisions of that act were: (i) The Scotch educa- 
tion department was created and a system of local elective 
school boards was established, with the parish as the unit, 
(2) the abolition of church supervision of public educa- 
tion, (3) the burgh schools and such others as elected to do 
so, passed under the control of local school boards and were 
given the name of higher class public schools. The parish 
and other schools remained under their former managers and 
took the name of higher class schools. 

(These parish schools under the later Act of 1899 were 
transformed into the higher grade schools under the manage- 
ment of the boards.) (4) Parliamentary grants were pro- 
vided for elementary education. 

Act of 1908. — Subsequent acts have provided for the 
instruction and care of blind, deaf-mutes, and defective chil- 
dren. The Act of 1906 reclassified schools as primary, in- 
termediate, and secondary. But the greatest change came 
under the Act of 1908 which began an era of expansion in 
Scottish education. The powers of the education depart- 
ment and of the local boards are extended to secondary and 
higher education and to the general welfare of all children. 
The several education funds are consolidated under one man- 
agement and made available for all grades of education. 

Primary Education. — The compulsory school age extends 
from 5 to 14 years of age. The primary school, which covers 
this period up to twelve, is divided into three divisions: (i) 
the infant, from 5 to 7, (2) the junior, 7 to 10, and (3) the 



Scotland 71 

senior, 10 to 12. The curriculum is not materially different 
from the elementary school curriculum in the United States. 
The student's qualification for the completion of the course 
is determined by the teacher's judgment and not by a final 
examination. 

Intermediate Schools. — At the completion of the primary 
course the students are divided into three sections and a 
different course of study given to each group in recognition 
of their different needs and purposes. These courses are : 
(i) supplementary, for those who are to leave at fourteen, 
(2) supplementary, for those who at fourteen are planning 
to enter continuation classes for preparation for the crafts 
and arts, and (3) intermediate or higher grade schools, for a 
broad general education for those planning to enter a second- 
ary school. The graduates of this course receive an inter- 
mediate certificate which admits them to the secondary school. 
It will be observed that this recognition of the differentiated 
needs of pupils at twelve years of age is a meritorious feature 
of the Scottish system. The special features of these several 
types are as follows. 

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 

Supplementary Classes. — One of the most interesting and 
unique features of the Scotch system of elementary schools 
is what they term supplementary classes. The aim of these 
classes is to train the pupils from twelve to fourteen years 
of age who do not plan to continue in school after fourteen. 

When pupils are twelve their parents are counseled with 
regarding the plans tor them at fourteen. Such as are plan- 
ning to quit at that age, are placed in the supplementary 
classes. 



72 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Those going into higher education are placed in the second- 
ary schools. The third group continue through the regular 
elementary school. The course of study consists of thorough 
drill work in the fundamental subjects that are necessary 
for intelHgent citizenship. The boys are given a great deal 
of handwork in wood and iron and the girls a similar amount 
in domestic economy. The department gives a merit certifi- 
cate to every pupil that attends supplementary classes at 
least one year. The grants to these classes are also larger 
than those to the ordinary school. During the year 191 2-13 
these classes had an enrollment of about fifty thousand stu- 
dents. This method of segregating the seventh and eighth 
grade pupils into three distinct groups on the basis of future 
aims, is one that could be copied to advantage by the United 
States and other countries. In the United States there are 
many advocates of what is known as the " Six and Six " 
plan of reorganization of the eight elementary and the four 
high school grades. Such a scheme is in recognition of the 
same fundamental principles that have influenced the Scotch 
to estabHsh the supplementary classes and the intermediate 
schools. 

Intermediate or Higher Grade Schools. — In Scotland the 
intermediate schools, which correspond to the higher elemen- 
tary schools in the EngHsh system, are chiefly articulated with 
the primary schools below and the secondary schools above. 
They receive pupils at twelve years of age and give them a 
three years' course. The curriculum includes the cultural 
subjects of history, EngHsh, mathematics, modern languages, 
science, drawing, and also industrial subjects. These schools 
resemble very closely the manual training high schools in 
the United States. At the completion of this course the 



Scotland 73 

pupil receives an intermediate certificate which is eagerly 
sought after. The industrial bias given to the course of study 
is intended to turn many students toward the trades, but as 
a matter of fact the breadth of the course and the general 
good spirit of the school awakens such an interest in many 
of the students that they continue their education in the 
secondary schools. 

In 1913-14 there were 193 intermediate schools of all 
types receiving grants with an average enrollment of 23,893 
scholars, and an accommodation for more than 40,000. In 
comparison with statistics for 1900, there were in 1 913-14 
approximately seven times as many schools and nine times as 
many pupils in this t}TDe of schools, — a marvelous increase. 

Continuation Classes. — The education department is 
empowered to require school boards to provide instruction 
in continuation classes for the further instruction of persons 
from fourteen to seventeen years of age who are not going 
on into higher education. These courses must have refer- 
ence to the crafts and industries practiced in the districts 
and to such others as the department may consent to upon 
appUcation by the Board. All of these courses must include 
English language and literature and, in districts desiring it, 
GaeHc language and literature. These continuation classes 
are prospering in the larger towns, but in the rural districts 
they are very few and spasmodic, a condition which is gen- 
erally due to the indifference of the people. The length of 
the course is from fifteen to twenty weeks. The shorter 
term is more popular in the rural districts. 

Types of Continuation Classes. — There are four different 
types of continuation classes for which rates are paid. These 
are : (i) classes for the completion of general elementary edu- 



74 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

cation, (2) classes for specialized instruction, (3) courses 
for specialized instruction, and (4) auxiliary classes. 

The work of course one is as described above. For course 
two the pupils must be over sixteen years of age. The course 
is intended to be a good preparation for entering any vocation 
or profession without speciaUzation. Course three is designed 
to fit students for the practice of particular crafts, industries, 
and vocations. The auxiliary classes are mainly for teachers 
of special subjects in the public schools. They include 
physical exercises, mihtary drill, vocal music, wood-carving, 
song, needle-work, elocution, etc. In 1913-14 there were 
reported 1059 continuation classes in Scotland, with 143,942 
scholars. 

Comparison of Continuation Classes with Those of Other 
Countries. — In comparison with the continuation classes in 
Germany and France, the Scottish continuation schools are 
not so well equipped nor are they so well organized relative 
to the convenience of the pupils' hours of work. On the other 
hand the Scottish schools surpass the French and German 
schools from the standpoint of suitableness of equipment 
and practical character of the work, and in the aid of pupils 
in their search for suitable employment. 

SECONDARY EDUCATION 

Reorganization. — The reorganization and development 
of secondary education along modern lines began in 1885 
with the reorganization in that year of the Scotch education 
department. The next year inspection of secondary schools 
was begun, and the system of leaving examinations completely 
revised with reference to both the secondary schools and the 
universities for which they prepare. 



Scotland 75 

Leaving certificates in groups of four subjects were sub- 
stituted for the leaving certificates in one subject when desired. 
The result of this has been a great broadening in scholarship 
and interest. 

Course of Study. — The secondary schools provide a five 
years' course above the primary school which the pupils 
complete at twelve years of age. The first three years of 
this course have been described above as the higher grade 
schools. The upper two grades constitute the secondary 
education proper and they may offer several different courses, 
as the American high school does, for specialization in the 
languages, sciences, mathematics, and commercial subjects. 
The old burgh schools, parish schools, and academies are 
being supplanted by this newer secondary school. The grad- 
uates of secondary schools receive a leaving certificate upon 
an oral and written examination. This certificate, if the 
examination included the college entrance subjects, admits 
to the university, thus serving as an articulating Hnk between 
these institutions. 

Modern Tendencies. — The Scotch education depart- 
ment is encouraging the development of the secondary schools 
along the fines of the teaching of modern languages and the 
sciences. In this respect these secondary schools are much 
like the American high school. 

Types of Secondary Schools. — There are three types of 
secondary schools in Scotland, — private, endowed, and 
municipal (burgh) schools. They are managed by separate 
boards from those directing the elementary schools. The 
Board issues a leaving certificate to graduates of secondary 
schools who pass the department examinations. The Board 
also inspects such secondary schools as apply for this service. 



76 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Gradually these schools are coining under government super- 
vision. 

Supply and Distribution of Secondary Centers. — The 
secondary schools are so well distributed that practically 
every child is in reach of one, either by proximity of his resi- 
dence, or by the splendid system of transportation provided 
by the Education Act of 1908. The supply of these schools 
is also quite adequate to the needs of the country, there being 
now as many as 250 of the higher grade and secondary proper. 
The proportion of children in Scotland going on from the 
elementary school to the higher schools is i to 6.5, in com- 
parison with I to 22 in England — about 3^ times as great. 

The secondary education committees have been quite active 
in the use of the power given them to use funds for the trans- 
portation of competent pupils to efficient secondary centers. 
The problem of hostels (dormitory) for these pupils is an urgent 
one. For the year 1909-10 the committees used $424,000 
for this purpose. This method of extending secondary 
education would be so expensive in some localities that the 
department has found it necessary to resort to the method 
of adding one or two years to the intermediate school. This, 
however, is only a substitute for secondary education and 
is not satisfactory, from the consideration of equipment or 
scientifically trained teachers. Of the 56 upper secondary 
schools receiving grants 35, or 62 % of them, are under school 
boards or committees. 

Articulation with the Universities. — The question of the 
readjustment of the secondary school to the university has 
provoked much thought and discussion recently. Prominent 
educators are advocating the discontinuance of the preHmi- 
nary examination for admission to the universities and the 



Scotland 77 

substitution therefor of the leaving certificate. This would 
permit a greater breadth in preparation and would place 
the emphasis upon general fitness rather than upon special 
knowledge. The group method of arranging secondary 
courses is being advocated with the changing from the single 
type leaving examinations to a system of group examinations 
for leaving certificates. The same reformers are also asking 
that Latin be made optional in the secondary course. This 
request seems reasonable in view of the fact that the uni- 
versities grant even the Master of Arts degree without any 
Latin except what was required of the student when he passed 
the leaving examination from the intermediate school at 
fifteen years of age. The universities are not so favorable 
to the change as are the secondary teachers. This Scotch 
condition is simply one of the many evidences of the waning 
of the influence of Latin in the secondary schools of the world. 
School Statistics. — The report of the Scottish depart- 
ment of education for 191 2 gives the following statistics. 

Population of Scotland 4.733,700 

Enrollment in public or subsidized schools 
Elementary 

Primary 818,785 

Higher grade 25,030 844,715 

Continuation classes 144,815 

Intermediate and Secondary 

Boys 11,769 

Girls 8,t6^ 2o.-;^2 

Total 1,010,062 

Teachers 

Men 5,357 

Women 15.074 20,431 

Training colleges and training centers for teachers 561 

Current expenditure on primary and higher grade schools .... $1,381,320 
Per capita of enrollment $16.85 



78 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

These figures show an enrollment of approximately i8% 
of the population in the elementary schools and nearly 25% 
in the elementary and secondary schools combined. The 
corresponding percentages in England are 16% and 17%. 
Scotland's lead is very appreciable. 

GENERAL WELFARE OF CHILDREN 

Medical Inspection. — The law regarding medical inspec- 
tion of children, passed in 1908, requires school boards to 
rnaintain such service and authorizes the education depart- 
ment to enforce the law as a prerequisite to the education 
grant. This provision places Scotland among the leading 
countries in the care of the health of her children. Scotland 
follows the English policy and makes the county the unit 
for medical inspection. The department of education issues 
detailed instructions for the county system of work. Com- 
plete systems of medical inspection were established through- 
out all Scotland within three years from the passage of the 
law. 

Neglected Children. — The school boards are also empow- 
ered to provide food, clothing, and other care for the child 
during the compulsory school age, if the parents are not able 
or decline to do so. In the latter case the boards must col- 
lect the amount they expended from the parents through 
court procedure. In this respect Scotland has gone further 
than most other counties in delegating parental power to 
the school board. This, however, is a logical sequence to 
compulsory education. 

An instructive illustration of the workings of this relief 
provision is found in Edinburgh where there is said to be more 
poverty than anywhere else in Scotland, except in Glasgow. 



Scotland 79 

This city has developed a thorough system of investigation 
and treatment of each case of child neglect or child relief 
that is full of suggestions to other cities or countries dealing 
with the same problem. 

TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

1872 to 1905. — During the period from 1872 to 1905 the 
teacher-training in Scotland was carried on in : (i) eight train- 
ing colleges under the management of the education committees 
of the established and Free Churches and the Episcopal 
and Catholic Churches, (2) in one college for the training of 
secondary teachers, (3) in apprenticeship classes (pupil- 
teachers) in secondary schools, and (4) in the universities 
at the expense of local committees. This system was prac- 
tically the same as the one in England in the present day, 
as described elsewhere. The result was likewise the same, 
that is, a large percentage of poorly trained and non-certifi- 
cated teachers under only a partial supervision by the 
state. 

Act of 1905, Present System of Teacher-Training. — The 
Scottish education department took full charge of the train- 
ing of teachers in 1905 and inaugurated the system now in 
operation. It was fully expected that this new system would 
entirely eliminate the non-certificated teachers and the 
pupil-teachers by 191 5, but this has not been fully realized. 
The main provisions of this system are as follows : (i) 
Provincial committees for the training of all grades of teachers 
were established in connection with the four Scottish uni- 
versities. These committees are composed of representa- 
tive members from educators, school boards, churches, and 
inspectors. (2) These committees are empowered to receive 



8o Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

from the managers all existing training colleges and to oper- 
ate them. (3) These committees are empowered to prepare 
courses of study for the training of teachers and to estabUsh 
them at universities, colleges, and other suitable centers. 
(4) Students in training are divided into three classes, (a) 
those taking a three years' university course, {b) those taking 
a two years' course, other than in the university, and (c) 
graduates and those in service. On the basis of degree of 
advancement they are ranked as junior and senior students. 
The junior students have had the intermediate school course 
or its equivalent. (5) The number of students to enter upon 
training is regulated by the department, and the students 
to enter the junior courses are nominated by the secondary 
school committees. (6) The junior course is three years in 
length and is taken in some central secondary school. In 
1913 there were 113 such centers. The senior course is two 
years in length and is taken in a university, or training col- 
lege, under the direction of the provincial committee of the 
colleges. There are four of these University centers. The 
course may be extended to three or four years and thereby 
lead to a degree. This course of training is followed by a 
probationary year before the certificate is validated. (7) 
The local authority pays the fees and in some cases a main- 
tenance allowance for both junior and senior students. (8) 
The course of study in the junior centers is a combination of 
high school and normal training subjects and the course in the 
training colleges is very similar to that of an American normal 
school. The training colleges are in connection with the 
universities which give the senior students an opportunity 
to carry regular university classes, which many of them do. 
(9) A teacher's certificate, once validated, is good until the 



Scotland 8i 

holder is 65 years of age. (10) A retiring pension is granted 
a teacher at the age of 65. 

In general this scheme is working well and must be re- 
garded as one of the most centralized systems of training 
teachers in Europe, though in practice there are many modi- 
fications and violations of its provisions. On the whole it is 
much in advance of the English system. 

Teachers' Pensions. — The present pension system in 
Scotland was enacted in 191 2. It is considered to be a more 
scientific and progressive scheme than that in operation in 
England. The main provisions of the new plan are as fol- 
lows : — (i) All Scottish teachers receiving pensions under 
the previous pension acts are continued on the pension roll 
on the basis that the new law provides for retirement. 

(2) All ordinary certificated teachers, both elementary 
and secondary, and teachers holding special certificates or 
temporary certificates, are competent to participate in the 
pension grants, if they are teaching in schools receiving 
grants under the regulations of the department. 

(3) The pension fund is provided by the department and 
the local managers retaining annually certain percentages 
out of the grants and the teachers' salaries. 

(4) The conditions for retirement are {a) ten years of serv- 
ice, {h) the age of 60 years, or unavoidable disabihty. 

(5) Forced retirement is made at 65 years of age. (6) The 
amount of pension is obtained by multiplying a certain per- 
centage of the annual salary by a certain number of years 
of service. The amount differs for the existing teachers and 
the future teachers. For the latter the pension may not 
exceed two thirds of the average annual salary, for the period 
of service in Scotland. (7) Teachers who withdraw from 



82 Modern Education in Europe and tJie Orient 

service before the retiring age, may receive back the amount 
that had been withheld from his salary or may leave the 
amount in the fund and participate in the pension at 65 years 
of age. Likewise the heirs of a teacher who dies in service 
may have the same privilege of the two options. 

(8) At the end of each period of five years a new valuation 
and readjustment must be made of the administration of 
the pension fund on the basis of the more recent scientific 
knowledge of such matters. 

(9) The ultimate authority in the management of the 
pension system is the Scottish education department. 

The special merits of this system are : (i) the universal 
appUcation to all teachers in service and (2) the provision 
for returning retents to the teachers who withdraw before 
reaching the retiring age. The weakness of the system lies in 
the retention of a part of the teachers' salaries to supply the 
fund. 

But the system, even as it is, places Scotland ahead of the 
United States in the provision for the creation of a profession 
and the care of the teachers. 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

Origin in 1887. — Technical education had its origin in a 
feeble way in 1887. Prior to this time, however, many 
grants had been made to schools and colleges for scientific 
instruction as an aid to technical instruction. 

The use made by the local authorities of the funds granted 
them by the Act of 1887 for technical classes was not satis- 
factory to the department. 

Present System. — As a consequence, in 1901, the Board 
consolidated this work in central institutions, called Indus- 



Scotland 83 

trial universities. In 1906 there were eleven of these receiv- 
ing grants from the government. These institutions furnish 
higher training in such technical subjects as agriculture, 
commerce, art, nautical subjects, domestic science, etc. 
There are also two greater technical institutions that deserve 
special mention. These are : (i) the Heriot-Watt Technical 
College in Edinburgh and (2) the George Street Technical 
College in Glasgow. The first of these institutions has between 
3000 and 4000 students in day and evening classes, and the 
second has about 6000 students. An admirable feature of 
these two institutions is their close affihation with the uni- 
versities in those cities for the purpose of degree privileges. 

With the grants to evening technical classes that are nu- 
merous throughout the country, to the central industrial col- 
leges or universities, and to these greater technical colleges, 
Scotland stands very favorable in the matter of technical 
education in comparison with other countries. 

SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES 

Their Origin. — Scotland has four national universities 
of historic renown, though they cannot be classed among 
the great world universities. The origin and purpose of the 
three oldest of these institutions — St. Andrews, Glasgow, 
and Aberdeen — was described under the topic, " Old Types 
of Schools." The fourth one of this group, Edinburgh Uni- 
versity, had its origin in the " Towns College," founded in 
Edinburgh in 1564. This college through a period of more 
than a hundred years added faculty after faculty until it 
became a full-fledged university by the Act of 162 1. It 
differed mainly from the three older universities in not having 
an ecclesiastical purpose in its origin, as neither a Bishop's 



84 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

mandate nor a Papal Bull called it into existence. Its aim 
was the higher education of students in the humanities, philos- 
ophy, medicine, law, theology, and sciences for the munic- 
ipaUty of Edinburgh. 

Reorganization in 1858. — The curriculum and management 
of the older universities was largely medieval in character 
until their reorganization in 1858. In the three oldest uni- 
versities the faculty, the senate, and the comitia controlled 
everything, while Edinburgh was under the administration 
of the municipality. The Act of 1858 nationaUzed the Scot- 
tish universities by creating a uniform administration for 
them through three bodies, (i) The senate was retained 
with increased powers for the management of the ordinary 
business. This body is composed of the principals and pro- 
fessors in each of the institutions. (2) The university court, 
consisting of the rector, principal, dean, and four assessors, 
was created as a Court of Appeal, and with the power to 
appoint professors and regulate the internal affairs of the 
institutions. (3) The General Council, which consisted of the 
chancellor, university court, the professors, graduates, and 
others who had attended four years, was given the duties of 
looking after the general interests of the universities, in 
relation to the pubHc. 

This act also rearranged the curricula, established more 
professorships, revised the bursaries, and increased the salaries 
of the professors. 

Present Organization Act of 1889. — In the reorganization 
under the Act of 1889 the management of the property and 
the business affairs of the universities was transferred from 
the senate to the University Court. And in time the senate 
was given the direction of the teaching and the discipline 



Scotland 85 

and the management of the libraries and museums. Each 
University Court was empowered to make ordinances govern- 
ing its own institution provided all other courts agreed to 
them. Tliis provision proved to be annoying and was re- 
moved by an Act in 1908 leaving each university autono- 
mous, relative to the other three. The General Council, 
in addition to the duties stated above, elect two members 
to the Parliament. One is chosen jointly by Edinburgh and 
St. Andrews and the other by Glasgow and Aberdeen. 
Another body under this statute is the Students' Representa- 
tive Council, which consists of representatives from the fac- 
ulties and students' societies. The functions of this body are 
to represent the students in their relation to the universities 
and to promote social Hfe among the students. 

Lastly, as a supreme tribunal in charge of the entire field 
of university administration, the Act of 1889 created the 
Universities' Committees of the Privy Council. However, 
the policy of the government to grant as nearly as practicable 
complete autonomy to each university has reduced the func- 
tion of this body to a minimum. 

Women in the Universities. — Provision for the higher 
education of women was made in 1868 in the founding of 
short lecture courses by the university professors in Glas- 
gow. Later this movement took the shape of an association 
which conducted lecture courses for women in rented halls. 
In 1883 the association was incorporated as Queen Margaret 
College and was presented with a building and an endowment 
of £25,000 by interested friends. This college was presented 
to and accepted by the University of Glasgow in 1892 to be 
maintained exclusively for women. Since that date women 
have been admitted to the four universities on an equality 



86 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

with men except in the departments of law and theology. 
The percentage of women in the student body is small, but 
is gradually increasing. The total enrollment of men and 
women in the four universities in 1910 was 7560. 

Support of Universities. — The support of the Scotch uni- 
versities has never been munificent. At present the annual 
grant by Parliament is $360,000 for the four institutions. 
In addition to this, a special appropriation of $200,000 was 
recently made in response to an investigation ordered in 1909 
into the financial condition of the universities. The Act of 
1908 also permits the universities to participate in the gen- 
eral education fund for annual maintenance by application 
of the university courts to the secretary for Scotland. Other 
sources of support are students' fees and private endowments. 

Carnegie Trust Grants. — The largest of the private en- 
dowments is the Carnegie Trust, estabHshed in 1901 for the 
two purposes : (i) of improving and expanding the work of 
the universities and (2) of paying students' fees and research 
bursaries. The amount of the endowment was $10,000,000, 
and the annual income from it is about $510,000, which nets 
above the expenses for administration over $500,000 for dis- 
tribution among the four universities under the two main 
purposes of the foundation. The rapid developments in the 
fields covered by this endowment have been marvelous. It 
is estimated that in the field of scientific research the Carnegie 
grant is producing an output equal to that in the entire 
British Empire. The work in other phases of education 
covered by this trust is equally great. 

THE SCOTCH CHURCH 
State Church. — Presbyterianism was reestablished in 
Scotland as a State Church in 1688 under William and Mary. 



Scotland 87 

Under the conditions of restoration it was to be supported 
by the state and in all essential respects controlled by the 
state. The doctrine was not to be interfered with by the 
state. A provision restored from earUer practice by an Act 
of Queen Anne's Parliament in 171 1, gave to certain landed 
proprietors, or lay-patrons, connected with parishes the right 
to nominate ministers to vacant parishes without regard for 
the wishes of the people. This undemocratic practice has 
been a continuous cause of disruption and a source of weak- 
ness to the State Church. These conditions prevent the union 
of the several branches of the church to-day. 

Secession Churches. — A cUmax in this controversy was 
reached in 1732 by an action of the general assembly of the 
State Church in favor of the policy of lay-patronage. This 
action together with an oath required a few years later of 
burgesses to support the true religion of the realm drove many 
leaders into secession. One branch of these secessionists 
organized the Secession Church and the other branch the 
Rehef Church. Both branches were opposed to estabhsh- 
ment. 

The United F*resbyterian Church of Scotland. — Both 
churches remained essentially Presbyterian, and just one 
hundred years later, in 1847, united in forming " The United 
Presbyterian Church of Scotland." This united church 
was very prosperous and by the close of its separate existence 
in 1900 had a theological college in Edinburgh and about two 
hundred thousand members. In its theological beliefs and 
practices it became much more liberal and tolerant than 
the State Church. 

Free Church. — The opening of the 19th century found 
the State Church, both among the ministers and the people, 



88 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

in a state of lethargy and indifference, due to the influence of 
skeptical philosophy and the opposition to the evangelical 
spirit of the dissenting churches. In revolt against this 
condition, Chalmers, the most important churchman since 
Knox, stirred the evangelical party in the State Church to 
withdraw from the Moderates, whom they now outnumber, 
to organize the Free Church of Scotland. This they did 
in 1843. They did not oppose the establishment, but 
objected to lay-patronage. Like the United Presbyterian 
Church they organized their own theological schools. The 
great Chalmers was placed at the head of the theological 
school in Edinburgh. Other similar schools were established 
at Aberdeen and Glasgow. Funds were liberally contributed 
for all forms of church work, both at home and abroad. The 
number of its congregations had passed the thousand mark 
when in 1900 the question of uniting with the other free church 
became prominent in Scotch religious life. 

United Free Church. — The strong feeUng of Scotch racial 
instincts and the spirit of Presbyterianism have kept the 
Scotch close together in spite of the many sectarian bickerings. 
At heart and in the interest of humanity they are ever one. 
In 1900 the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the 
Free Church of Scotland united under the name " United 
Free Church." Furthermore the State Church has recently 
modified its formula of subscription to the Westminster 
confession of faith which is the Presbyterian standard of 
doctrine. The Confession as modified requires only the ac- 
ceptance of " the reformed faith." By these recent actions the 
Free Church and the State Church are tending closer together 
than they have been for many years. A small minority of 
the Free Church dechned to unite in 1900 and have continued 



Scotland 89 

their organization. Hence there are to-day three Presby- 
terian churches in Scotland. The following statistics for 
the year 191 3 show the relative numerical strength of the 
three Presbyterian Churches, and the Episcopal and Catholic 
Churches. Several other denominations have a small mem- 
bership, but their numbers are quite negUgible in comparison 
with the five larger churches. The Church of Scotland 714,- 
000 members ; The United Church 507,000 members ; the 
Free Church (estimated) 40,000 members ; Episcopal Church 
55,000 members; CathoHc Church 520,000 members. 

Relation to Education. — As has been shown in tracing 
the development of education, the Scotch church — every 
branch of it — has been profoundly interested in education. 
The church has maintained elementary and secondary schools, 
teacher's training colleges, and universities. She has carried 
the burden alone, or has cooperated with private endowments 
or state aid. And, finally, she has surrendered to the state 
the entire control of secular education. No reUgious tests 
are required of the teachers, and no religious subjects are 
taught in the public schools. The state branch of the church 
has ever opposed the interference of the state with the reli- 
gious doctrines and the management of the church. The 
free branches have stood for Calvinistic democracy in church 
management. The Scotch Kirk has ever magnified the teach- 
ing of the Bible in the church and the home. Presbyterian 
Scotland is one of the easiest, if not the easiest, land in all 
Europe for the maintenance of universal education so far as 
the church problem is concerned. Each branch of the 
Presbyterian Church and also the Episcopal and Catholic 
Churches maintain schools for both sectarian and religious 
purposes. But the extent to which elementary education 



Qo Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

has already passed under the control of the public school 
boards and committees is shown by the fact that in 1913-14, 
of the 3370 schools, 3030, or 90 % of them, were public. 
It is thus apparent that, so far as education is concerned, the 
religious situation in Scotland is far more peaceful than it is 
in England. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Discuss the several methods used by local school boards for re- 
taining all children in school up to the leaving age of 14. 

2. Describe the system of medical inspection under the Scotch 
education department. (See the report of the United States Com- 
missioner of Education, 191 5, pages 684-686.) 

3. Compare the Scotch and the English systems of teacher-training. 

4. Give a full account of the Carnegie Trust Grant for the expansion 
of the work of the Scotch universities. 

5. Show the important function of the Scotch church in the develop- 
ment of education during the past two hundred years. 

6. Give a clear account of the work of John Knox in the estabHsh- 
ment of elementary and secondary education in Scotland. 

7. Describe the methods by which the Scotch education department, 
during the past thirty years, has been gradually securing control of 
secondary education. 

8. Describe the Scotch racial ideals and show how these are reflected 
in the schools. 

9. Show the relation of the Scotch to the English school system. 

10. Explain the three-section plan of the intermediate schools for the 
recognition of the different needs and purposes of the pupils after twelve 
years of age. 

Special Bibliography 

Carnegie Foundation for. the Advancement of Teaching, Fifth Annual 

Report, pp. 56-62, New York, igio. 
Gibson, J. Education in Scotland, A Sketch of the Past and Present, 

London, 191 2. 



Scotland 91 

JUDD, Charles H. The Training of Teachers in England, Scotland, 
and Germany, Bulletin, 1914, No. 35, United States Bureau of 
Education, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 

Kerr, J. Scottish Education, Cambridge, at the University Press, 1910. 

Macpherson, Hector. The Intellectual Development of Scotland, 
Hodder and Stoughton, 191 1, New York. 

Morgan, A. History of Training of Primary and Secondary Teachers 
in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1906. 

SiES, Raymond W. Teachers' Pension Systems in Great Britain, Bulle- 
tin, 1913, No. 34, United States Bureau of Education, Government 
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 

Strong, John. Historj' of Scottish Secondary Education, University 
Press, Oxford, 1909. 



FRANCE 
CHAPTER III 

THE GOVERNMENT 

In order to understand the administration of education in 
France, it is necessary to get a general idea of the central 
and local government in their relation to each other. This 
will reveal the paterjialistic spirit of the government and make 
clear the machinery through which the ministry of education 
does its work. 

Present Constitution. — France is a republic under a 
constitution which consists merely of laws enacted by the 
National Assembly of 1871-75, and subsequently amended 
by the two houses in joint session as a National Assembly. 
It differs from the English Constitution in being most all 
written ; and from the American in consisting of several 
documents passed by a law-making body instead of one docu- 
ment prepared by a constituent assembly and adopted by 
the states. The provision by which all amendments are made 
by Parliament, as an Assembly, makes Parliament very power- 
ful, almost as powerful as the British Parliament. The 
Constitution, as it is called, prescribes only the broad prin- 
ciples of the government and leaves the details to legislation. 

Parliament. — The Chamber oj Deputies. — The Chamber 
of Deputies consists of 597 members, chosen by universal 
suffrage for a term of four years. Suffrage is extended to all 
men over twenty-one years of age not disqualified by some 

92 



France 93 

technicality. No educational or property qualification is 
required of voters. A candidate for the Chamber must be a 
legal voter, twenty-five years of age and not disqualified under 
any of the disabling laws. 

The Senate. — The Senate is composed of three hundred 
members chosen by departments on a population basis. The 
law of 1875 provided that seventy-five of these members 
should be chosen for life, but this act was changed by a law 
of 1884, that distributes these seats among the departments 
upon the death of the life members. Thus in the course of a 
few more years all of the senators will be elected for the term 
of nine years, and by departments. They are chosen in 
each department by an electoral college consisting of certain 
officials and delegates. A senator must be forty years old 
and is under the same disqualifications as a member of the 
Chamber of Deputies. The membership of this body is 
regarded as a very capable and distinguished group of 
men. 

The Senate has two distinctive functions: (i) It sits 
as a Court of Justice to try persons accused of threatening 
the safety of the state. (2) It has the right of approval or 
disapproval of the President's attempt to disvalue the Cham- 
ber of Deputies. 

In comparison with the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, 
like the House of Lords in the British Parliament, is the 
weaker body. The reasons are these : (i) The initiation of 
many bills must occur in the Chamber. (2) The Ministry is 
responsible to the Chamber. The Senate, with its checks 
and balances, however, is an influential body. 

The President. — The President of the French Republic 
is elected for a term of seven years, by the National Assembly, 



94 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

or a joint session of the two houses of Parliament. Any 
French male citizen except members of famihes who have 
ruled in France is eligible to the Presidency, but as a matter 
of fact the National Assembly has always chosen a member 
of their own body, one of experience, but not too aggressive. 
Vacancies are filled by this same body. This method is free 
from the campaigning and expense, the rivalry and strife, 
so embarrassing in America. Which is the better method 
would depend upon many factors in the government concerned. 
The French President has no real powers, as no act of his is 
valid until countersigned by a Minister. In this respect, 
he is like the British monarch, and very unlike the American 
President. His greatest influence lies in his power to appoint 
to civil and military positions and in his influence in diplo- 
matic relations. 

The Ministry. — The Ministry consists of twelve ministers 
appointed by the President, generally from the Chambers. 
They are responsible to the Deputies and resign upon the 
displeasure of that house. As a Council, the Ministry is 
executive in its function and is presided over by the President 
of the Republic. As a Cabinet, the Ministry is legislative 
and directs the affairs of state in the Parliament. One of 
the twelve is the Minister of Public Instruction and is in 
charge of the primary, secondary, and superior schools. 
The Minister of Commerce has charge of commercial edu- 
cation, and the Minister of Agriculture directs agricultural 
education. France is the best illustration of a strongly 
centralized state school system in the world. In the United 
States the Commissioner of Education is merely in charge 
of a bureau, in the Department of the Interior, and has neither 
administrative nor legislative duties. 



France 95 

Local Government. — The French Repubhc is divided into 
86 departments for local administrative purposes. At the 
head of each department is a prefect appointed by the Presi- 
dent upon the nomination of the Minister of the Interior, 
to act in the double capacity of the local agent of the central 
government and the executive officer of the local depart- 
ment. The prefect is assisted in local affairs by a General 
Council, elected on the basis of manhood suffrage. 

Next in size, as an administrative unit, is the arrondissement, 
or district, of which there are 362 to-day. Each district has 
a sub-prefect and a district council. The district is not a 
corporate unit and is therefore not of much consequence in 
governmental affairs. 

The Canton is the next unit in size, but it is merely for 
electoral and judicial purposes and has no administrative 
function. 

The Commune is the important administrative unit in 
French government. This is the unit that has survived 
the storms of all revolutions. It is administered by a Com- 
munal Council, elected by universal manhood suffrage. The 
executive officer in the Commune is the Mayor, elected by 
the Council and responsible to them locally and to the Pre- 
fect and President above him. In Paris, the Communal 
Council is differently constituted and the executive authority 
is in the hands of the central government. 

The striking feature of the French system of government 
is the extent to which central control is maintained in every 
unit of government. 

The administration of the educational system is through 
the Department of Public Instruction, the departments, and 
the communes. The educational system in France is truly 



96 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

a state system, centralized as no other system is, unless it 
be that of Japan. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 

Central Authorities. — The executive head of the French 
system of education is the Minister of Public Instruction, 
who is a member of the Cabinet. He is assisted by three 
directors, one for each of the three grades of education, the 
primary, the secondary, and the higher. A fourth director 
is in charge of the finances of the department. Each of the 
directors administers his work through several bureaus, one 
for each special function. 

The Minister is advised by a Superior Council of Educa- 
tion, some members of which are appointed by the Minister 
and others chosen by the professors in the departments. 
With the advice of this Council, the Minister drafts the 
educational laws, prepares the programs, makes the regula- 
tions, and draws up the annual budget for Parliament. 

The Academies. — The state is divided into seventeen 
divisions, called academies, for educational purposes. At the 
head of each academy is a rector, who ranks next in impor- 
tance to the Minister. The only exception to this arrange- 
ment is Paris, over which there is a vice-rector, the Minister, 
himself, being rector there. The rector, assisted by an aca- 
demic council, -directs the schools in the academy. 

Departments. — Each academic district has a number of 
the 90 civil departments, through which primary education 
is administered. Primary education is supervised by both 
government and local inspectors. Two normal schools are 
also directed by each department to train teachers for the pri- 
mary schools. 



France 97 

The Commune. — Each commune is required by law to 
have one or more primary schools according to the needs of 
the school population under the compulsory school law. 

Lycees and Colleges. — Internally the secondary schools, 
the lycees and colleges, are directed by a headmaster and 
several assistants appointed by the Minister and assisted by 
a local administrative council, corresponding somewhat to 
a board of trustees, though without such powers. 

Agricultural Education. — Agricultural education is under 
the supervision of the Minister of Agriculture, and since 191 2 
departmental and communal agricultural education has 
been directed by a bureau of agricultural service, in each of 
the seventeen departments. The directors and professors in 
these bureaus are under the supervision of the Minister of 
Agriculture. 

The Universities. — The universities of France are state 
institutions, but are located in the chief cities of the depart- 
ments. There are sixteen universities. The law of 1896 
practically made these autonomous, except that they are 
dependent upon the state treasury for their maintenance 
and are supervised by the rectors in the departments and 
by the Minister. 

Technical Schools. — Since 1892, technical, commercial, 
and industrial schools have been under the direction of the 
Minister of Commerce and Industry. As a matter of fact, 
however, many of the technical schools are supported and 
controlled by the communes or by private parties. In Paris, 
for instance, there are fifteen such schools, seven for boys and 
eight for girls. This is the condition regarding the adminis- 
tration of both primary and secondary technical schools. 

The higher technical institutions in France are designed 



yS Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

to prepare leaders in the technical service of the state. They 
are under different Ministries, corresponding to their special 
functions, as the Ministry of Commerce, of War, of Agri- 
culture, etc. 

Specialization vs. Centralization. — In one sense the French 
system is highly centralized, but in another respect it is highly 
specialized. As has been shown above, the three different 
departments. Public Instruction, Agriculture, Commerce 
and Industry, direct three different types of primary and 
secondary education. And each of the different departments 
for which education exists controls the higher technical edu- 
cation. Centralization exists only in the sense that the several 
Ministers through Parliament control all t3^es of education, 
and that the public school teachers of France are all officers 
of the state and receive their salary from the national treasury. 
Specialization within the absolute control of centralizing 
forces is the striking characteristic of the French System. 
Decentralization is nowhere known. From still another point 
of view, the French school system is one of cooperation be- 
tween state and commune and between them and the masters 
of industry. 

PRIMARY EDUCATION 

Universal and Free. — The law of 1881 established free 
education in every commune for children from six to thir- 
teen years of age. This law also completely secularized the 
course of study and substituted civic and moral instruction 
for religious education. The law of 1886 secularized the 
teaching body, and the law of 1904 suppressed the teaching 
congregations. The policy of neutrality on the part of the 
teacher, textbook, and layman is difficult to establish in a 
country so long under the church influence, but progress, 



France 99 

nevertheless, is very encouraging. In this policy of seculari- 
zation, a national system such as that of the United States 
is what France is aiming to realize. The aim of France is 
to place teachers in the schools who are amenable only to 
the state and who will not offend other people because of their 
private religious convictions. 

The machinery for the enforcement of school attendance 
is not working efficiently. A revision of the law is under 
advisement that will abolish the local school attendance 
committee and substitute therefor the justice of the peace. 
Attendance at approved private schools in lieu of the state 
schools satisfies the law. Provision is made for furnishing 
poor children with books and clothing to enable them to 
comply with the compulsory law. 

Types of Primary Schools. — Separation of Sexes. — The 
first consideration in the discussion of the types of French 
schools is the fact that coeducation is not prevalent. The 
law provides that where there are five hundred people or 
more separate schools for the sexes shall be provided. In 
the smaller communities mixed schools exist. 

Ecoles Maternelles (Kindergarten). — This kindergarten is 
for children from two to six years of age and is for the purpose 
of giving to the children of this age a care and training similar 
to what they would get in the home. It is not compulsory, 
but when once organized must be kept up. They are open from 
seven a.m. to seven p.m. in summer and from eight A.M. to 
six P.M. in the winter. They are mixed schools and are 
taught wholly by women. The course of study consists of 
games, songs, and the elementary beginnings of the primary 
grade subjects. The work is more serious, more formal, 
and more advanced than that of the Froebelian kindergarten 



lOO Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

in the United States and elsewhere. When the children 
leave the kindergarten at the age of six they are able to read, 
write, and do some work in the four fundamental processes 
in arithmetic. Since 1881, they have been in the category 
of free schools and under regular state and local supervision, 
with the same qualifications for teachers as for those in the 
primary schools. 

Classes Enfantines. — These infant classes are for children 
from four to seven years of age, and are midway between the 
kindergarten and the primary schools. They are found gen- 
erally where the Ecoles Maternelles cannot be maintained. 
The course of study is somewhat more advanced than that in 
the Ecole Maternelle. 

Ecoles Primaires Elementaires . (Elementary primary 
schools.) — The elementary primary school admits pupils 
from five or six years of age to thirteen and gives them free 
tuition. The law requires a school of this type in every 
commune, separate for the sexes, if the commune has more 
than five hundred inhabitants. 

In a few communes the people have been very dilatory in 
their compliance with this law. The state grants some aid 
to such communities as need help in the erection and equip- 
ment of the schools. 

The curriculum for the elementary primary school is di- 
vided into three departments: (i) cours elementaire, two 
grades for children from six to nine ; (2) cours moyen, two 
grades for children from nine to eleven ; (3) cours superieur, 
two grades for children from eleven to thirteen. The subjects 
taught are the elementary branches found in the American 
elementary schools and moral instruction ; (4) cours comple- 
mentaire is an extra year added to the regular primary school 



France loi 

in localities where the higher primary school cannot be main- 
tained. The number of students in this course is very small. 

The different subjects of the elementary course are taught 
by the spiral or concentric circle plan throughout all the grades, 
in imitation of the way a child learns the subjects in practical 
hfe. 

Primary School Leaving Certificate. — Pupils graduating 
from the primary school course, or those who have reached 
twelve years of age and desire to quit school, take an oral 
and written examination for what is known as the certificat 
d^ etudes elementaires . This examination is not difi&cult, as 
it is based on the work of the first four grades only. The 
certificate, however, when obtained, is valued very highly. 
Only about lo per cent of the pupils secure the certificate 
at twelve years of age for the purpose of quitting school. Pos- 
sibly the greatest value in this examination lies in its practical 
application as a means of fixing a common standard of work 
in these grades throughout the state. 

Inspection of Primary Schools. — The real life of the French 
primary school is determined and directed by the primary 
inspector, an official who corresponds somewhat in duties to 
the extension school superintendent or supervisor. There 
is one for each district, or arrondissement. These inspectors 
are chosen by competitive examination from the great body 
of primary teachers, both men and women, and nominated or 
appointed by the Minister. They visit the schools of their 
respective districts at least once a year. Their authority 
extends to the construction of the course of study, the criti- 
cism of the methods of instruction, the qualifications of the 
teachers, and the specific moral and hygienic conditions of 
the schools. They conduct cantonal teachers' conferences, and 



I02 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

advise with local school ofi&cials. These powers and duties 
extend to both public and private schools. These visits to 
local schools are made the bases of reports to the academy 
inspectors who are the heads of the departments for primary- 
education. 

Finally, over this staff of district and academy primary 
inspectors, there are ten state inspectors who make annual 
tours of inspection throughout the departments. This ma- 
chinery is excellent for the maintenance of a uniform system 
of state schools. 

Enrollment in Primary Schools. — The report of the depart- 
ment of primary education for 1911-12 shows 620,516 pupils 
in the infant schools (5 to 6 years of age), 5,682,352 pupils 
in the primary schools (6 to 13 years of age). These two 
together equal 14.6 per cent of the total population, which 
is only a little over two thirds of that in the United States. 
This, however, must be considered in the light of the fact 
that the child population is small in France. But, on the 
other hand, the irregularity in school attendance and the 
tendency to leave school at twelve years of age to go to work 
shows the inadequacy of the school machinery and the need 
of a more enlightened conception of popular education. A 
most efficient means towards this end would be compulsory 
attendance upon continuation classes for pupils from thirteen 
to seventeen years of age, and extensive provisions for intel- 
lectual, social, and industrial education of the adult popu- 
lation. The leaders in France are thoroughly alive to these 
needs and are pressing the cause in every direction with much 
encouragement. 

Weakness of Primary Education. — In recent years much 
solicitude has been felt regarding some striking defects in the 



France 103 

primary schools. In the first place, the compulsory school 
law does not extend over a sufficiently long period of the child's 
life to make it socially efficient. Secondly, there is not suffi- 
cient provision made for continuing the education of children 
who must leave school at an early age to earn a living. Third, 
the salaries of teachers are not sufficient to meet the increas- 
ing cost of living. Fourth, the course of study is too formal 
and too slightly adapted to the industrial needs of society. 

SECONDARY EDUCATION 

General Characteristics. — Secondary education in France 
does not mean the same that it does in the United States 
where it designates a school following the elementary school 
and culminating in the university. In France it is a more 
complete education than that in the American high school. 
It is the education that is given in the lycees and communal 
colleges and private institutions of the same grade. The 
secondary school may receive the pupil when he enters school 
at six years of age or younger. The motive that would cause 
him to enter the secondary school rather than the primary 
school is social or class. The students who enter the secondary 
schools are looking forward to political, professional, or com- 
mercial leadership, while those entering the primary schools 
are directed towards the lower positions in the social and 
industrial world. The secondary school is a fee school, 
while the primary school is a free school. At eleven years 
of age the pupil enters upon secondary instruction proper. 
Up to this period a pupil may transfer from the primary school 
to the secondary, but seldom thereafter. Thus, it is seen, 
the secondary schools and primary schools parallel each other 
from the beginning of the children's school career until the 



I04 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

thirteenth year, the extent of the primary period. This, in 
other words, is a vertical stratification in French school 
society, the like of which does not exist in America. 

The lycees and colleges are usually boarding schools, 
though in recent years there is a tendency away from this 
practice. The girls' secondary schools are generally day 
schools, though some have boarding departments. 

These schools are taking on more and more the character- 
istics of high schools. 

Types of Secondary Schools. — France has two distinct 
types of secondary schools, (i) The lycees are established, 
supported, and directed by the state, with some aid from the 
commune in which they are located in the initial construction 
and equipment of the buildings. The teaching staff and 
officers are appointed by the Minister. 

(2) The colleges are communal institutions, founded and 
supported by local taxes and fees. They are directed by a 
principal. The qualification of the faculty and the grade of 
work in the colleges is not so high as in the lycees. 

For the secondary education of girls, France has made 
provision since 1880, in the same type of schools as for the 
boys. In addition to the girls' lycees and colleges there are 
secondary courses established by local authorities with some 
support from the state. These secondary courses each year 
are being transformed into colleges, or lycees, as all of them in 
time are destined to be. 

The Course of Study. — The course of study up to the tenth 
or eleventh year of the pupil's age is the same as in the pri- 
mary school, and needs no further description here. The 
secondary course lasts seven years and is divided into two 
cycles, one of four years and the other of two years. 



France 105 

The .lower four-year cycle divides into two branches that 
differ from each other mainly in the requirement of Latin 
and Greek in one and, in the other, French and sciences. 

The next two-year cycle is divided into four branches, 
characterized primarily as follows: (i) Greco-Latin sec- 
tion, (2) Latin modern language section, (3) Latin scientific 
section, and (4) scientific modern language section. 

Above these two cycles is the seventh and last year, which 
is divided into two branches, a philosophical and a mathe- 
matical. 

This provision for elective courses has been made since 
1893, largely as a result of the influence of the success of elec- 
tive courses in the American high schools and colleges. The 
organization of the secondary courses occurred in 1902 when 
the single uniform course was displaced by the elective sys- 
tem. The shift of emphasis away from the classical languages 
toward the scientific modern language section is very strong. 

In the secondary curriculum in the lycees religion is also 
included for those who desire it. Recently manual training 
in wood and iron has also been introduced. 

The course in the girls' schools is only five years in length. 
The striking feature in the course of study in the girls' schools 
is the absence of Greek and the presence of Latin only here 
and there as an optional subject for the very small percentage 
of girls who seek the baccalaureate degree. Drawing, do- 
mestic science and art, music, and gymnastics, are regular 
subjects in the girls' schools. 

An eighth year is often added to the boys' schools and a 
sixth year to the girls' schools for some special purpose. 

The Baccalaureate. — The bachelor's degree is the goal 
of the secondary student, especially the boys. The lycees 



io6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

and colleges are designed to prepare for the examinations for 
this degree. The examinations are conducted in each of the 
seventeen academies by a board of secondary and university 
professors. The examination is in two parts, the first at the 
end of the sixth year, the second at the end of the seventh 
year. The degree granted is the same for all, only it specifies 
the section in which the student majored. All degrees have 
the same value and admit alike to any of the departments of 
higher learning, or into administrative positions. The girls 
who take the baccalaureate must make up two years of prep- 
aration after completing the course of study in the girls' 
schools. This they may do by private tutoring or other- 
wise. 

The mortality of the examinees for the baccalaureate is 
very high. It is estimated that from 40 to 45 per cent fail. 

This French bachelor's degree is different from any degree 
issued in America. It is about equivalent, in its requirement, 
to an American junior or two-year college course. Much 
dissatisfaction arises at times regarding the degree, but it 
seems to be firmly established in the French system. 

Girls' Diplomas. — For academic distinctions for girls 
who do not take the baccalaureate, there are: (i) the certifi- 
cate of secondary studies at the end of the third year and 
(2) the diploma at the end of the fifth year. The examina- 
tions for these two distinctions are conducted by the respective 
faculties of the schools and not by the state as for the bac- 
calaureate. 

Teachers in Secondary Schools. — The teaching staff in 
the lycees and colleges is a body of well-trained men and 
women of somewhat higher scholarship than is found in the 
secondary schools of some other countries. The general 



France 107 

adherence to the principle of specialization and the rigid 
competitive examinations for the license required of the pro- 
fessors of the first rank account in part for this superior schol- 
arship. The lycees require a somewhat higher degree of 
efficiency in the faculty than the colleges, and the boys' schools 
than the girls' schools. 

The professors of the highest rank must have the title of 
agrege. The education necessary to pass the examination for 
this title represents five years in elementary studies, seven years 
in secondary studies, one year or more in preparation for the 
competitive examination for admission to the higher normal 
school, and three or four years in a professional school prepara- 
tory to the aggregation for the title agrege. This title repre- 
sents eight orders of subjects; viz. philosophy, grammar, 
letters, history and geography, modern language, mathe- 
matics, physical science, and natural science. 

This course of training differs from the training of a gradu- 
ate of an American college in the early beginning and the 
extent of specialization upon the major subjects, and in the 
drill necessary to the final competitive examination. As a 
sifting or selective process, it is superior to the American 
method of certificating teachers upon graduation from ap- 
proved courses. But it raises the standing questions of, 
" specialization versus breadth," and " scholarship versus 
personality." In rank below the agreges are the regular 
teachers who hold the master's degree, those who hold the 
bachelor's degree, and those who have only the primary teach- 
er's certificate. 

The salaries paid secondary teachers range from $580 to 
$1200, which, added to the certain tenure of office and the 
coming pension, is good. 



io8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Cost of Secondary Education. — The cost to the state of 
secondary education in France is a Httle over one tenth of 
the entire budget of the education department. This is 
consumed in meeting the cost of the day pupils above the 
fees they pay, which is nearly half of their cost, and an addi- 
tional five per cent of the cost of the boarding students, in 
aid of salaries for general expenses, and for scholarships. 
The total thus spent by the state amounts to about $7,000,000 
annually on secondary education. Yet, secondary education 
is not free, nor is it the pohcy of France to make it free. The 
fees paid by the students are arranged in a graduated scale 
from the lowest to the highest form. For day pupils they 
run from 90 francs to 320 francs per annum, and for boarding 
pupils 900 francs to 1650 francs. 

Low Percentage of Enrollment in Secondary Schools. — 
While these fees are not high, yet they are sufficient to de- 
prive a large percentage of the opportunity of a secondary 
education. This fact is shown by the small enrollment in 
all colleges and lycees in 1909. There were 131,830 students, 
which is approximately .4 per cent of the total population, 
or 4 persons out of a thousand population in secondary schools. 
It must be remembered in this connection that many of these 
pupils are really in the elementary grades as shown above. 
This reduces the percentage far below that of the secondary 
school enrollment in any other first-class country. Yet, 
France would not have it dififerent. She considers that finan- 
cial ability to pay for a training for leadership is coincident 
with the possession of the ability to profit by such training. 

Reorganization of Secondary Education for Girls. — Since 
1909 there has been much agitation of the question of reor- 
ganization of secondary education for girls. As shown above. 



France ' 109 

the girls' secondary schools have not attempted to duplicate 
the curriculum in the boys' schools, but have had as their 
aim the distinctive needs of the girls. This scheme has not 
provided for the ever-increasing numbers of women who 
desire to enter the universities to prepare for teaching and 
other professional careers. This deficiency is now being 
met in the reorganized secondary school for girls. 

TRADE AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

Ideals Aimed At. — In trade and technical education France 
aims at industrial excellence by training skilled experts and 
competent foremen and workmen. In comparison with 
Germany, France neglects the middle and lower grade arts 
and craftsmen upon whose work the stability of society 
in the last analysis must depend. France has not yet recog- 
nized, by ample provision, the need of evening continuation 
trade schools for that great middle class that cannot continue 
their education beyond the day elementary schools. In 
this respect she is behind England where so many voluntary 
organizations are paving the way, as is the custom in that 
country, for the government to subsidize continuation schools 
for middle trade and technical education. 

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 

Organization. — Agricultural education in France is or- 
ganized under the law of 1882. This law provides for the 
teaching of agriculture in the elementary, secondary, and 
normal schools, and special schools of agriculture. The 
system is very complete in organization, equipment, and 
method. 

The system was reorganized in 191 2 by establishing in 



no Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

each department a bureau of agricultural service. This 
bureau has charge of every phase of agricultural interests 
except the work of the veterinary and forestry service in the 
agricultural stations. 

Agriculture for Women. — In 19 13 the first horticultural 
school for women was opened at Brie-Comte-Robert near 
Paris. This school is under the direction of the Women's 
Union for the Agricultural Education for Women. 

The Minister of Agriculture also requires the agricultural 
bureaus in the departments to organize and direct women's 
clubs in the different communities for the promotion of edu- 
cation in home economics and agriculture. This club work 
is supplementary to the three-month courses operating 
throughout France in home economics. These various clubs 
are to be organized into a national federation of farm wom- 
en's clubs under the direction of a central committee in 
the office of the National University of Agriculture. 

Agriculture in Elementary Schools. — The rapid drift of 
the population from the rural districts to the cities has spurred 
France to improve the agricultural conditions so as to turn 
back the tide as much as possible. The work thus far, how- 
ever, has been too formal and technical to meet this purpose 
as desired. 

Agriculture in Secondary Schools. — France has about 
fifty schools of secondary grade for the theoretical and prac- 
tical training in agriculture. These schools, the Ecoles 
pratiques, had their origin in 1875 and are maintained for 
the training of the sons of the peasant farmers. They offer 
a two-year course. In the higher primary schools, which 
roughly compare with the two-year American high schools, 
the agricultural course is very popular in the farming com- 



France in 

munities. Pupils enter these schools at thirteen years of age, 
and prepare definitely for two or three years for the vocation 
of agriculture. 

Agriculture in Normal Schools. — For the training of 
teachers in the subject of agriculture, the normal schools, 
since 1887, have been required to give courses in the theory 
and practice of agriculture. This work is combined with 
manual training throughout the entire three years, in the 
boys' Normal course, while, in the girls' normals, the agri- 
culture is displaced by kitchen gardening and domestic 
science. The examination^ for both the elementary and higher 
teachers' certificates include the subject of agriculture. 

THE PRACTICAL SCHOOLS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 

Their Social Character. — The practical schools of com- 
merce and industry represent a characteristic feature in the 
French school system. They are designed to serve in part 
the purpose of actual apprenticeship in the arts and crafts. 
The age at which these schools receive pupils is from twelve 
to fifteen. They draw their students from the same social 
class and at this early period begin to break down the social 
sympathies and common aims so necessary for social solidarity. 
This condition, by many, is regarded as undesirable. 

Compared with High Primary Schools. — These practical 
schools receive pupils at the same age as the higher primary 
schools. The striking difference between the two types of 
schools is the vocation aim of one and the general culture aim 
of the other. Many French educators maintain that the 
course of study in the higher primary school, at this early age 
of the pupils, is conducive to a higher degree of efficiency 
both for general citizenship and for technical purposes. One 



112 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

trained in the general school, after a short period of actual 
practice, will far outstrip the unfortunate apprentice in a 
vocational career. The policy of the Ministry, therefore, 
should be to give these higher primary schools a fair degree 
of vocational bias, determined everywhere by the local condi- 
tions, and extend this type of education rather than the prac- 
tical schools. On the other hand, higher officials in the Minis- 
try of Commerce and Industry, that conducts these practical 
schools, claim a degree of efficiency for them that would 
justify their extension. This Ministry has, in addition to the 
practical schools, five state institutions of wider range, the 
national professional schools. These schools rival somewhat 
the technical courses in the secondary schools under the Min- 
istry of Public Instruction. 

It seems quite probable that this divided authority in 
the administration of education will eventually lead to the 
reorganization and unification of the French school system. 

The relative commercial value of these two types of schools, 
the practical and the higher primary, in 1907-08, was 60 prac- 
tical schools with an enrollment of 11,506 pupils and 221 
higher primary schools with 26,920 pupils. 

HIGHER EDUCATION 

Higher education in France under the Ministry of Public 
Instruction includes the state universities, special schools, 
and the scientific bureaus of the government. 

The special schools in this list are, the College of France, 
the Museum of National History, the Practical School of 
High Studies, the School of Archives, the School of Oriental 
Languages, the French School of Archeology at Rome, the 
French School at Athens, and the National School of Fine 



France 113 

Arts. To these schools the government appropriates over 
$500,000 per year. 

THE UNIVERSITIES 

Number and Distribution. — The French universities are 
organized under the law of 1896, which provides for a uni- 
versity in the capital city of each of the academies and one 
in Algiers. The group now includes sixteen institutions 
with several additional schools of medicine. While these 
are all state universities, yet they are in a sense municipal 
or provincial institutions drawing their support from the 
municipality as well as from the state. 

Prominence Given to University of Paris. — The poHcy 
of the government has been to develop the University of 
Paris into the leading one of the group. The result has been 
that this university is now one of the most richly endowed 
and has the largest enrollment of all the universities in Europe. 
Her enrollment is 40 per cent of the entire enrollment in the 
universities of France. In 1910 her numbers passed 17,500. 
From her endowments and from the state, she has more than 
$1,500,000 annually at her disposal. 

Differences among Universities. — The provincial uni- 
versities differ among themselves very markedly as to enroll- 
ment, wealth, faculties, scientific attainments, and local 
adaptation. The policy has been to keep each of these insti- 
tutions broad in its functions, though some educators advo- 
cate a policy of specialization in each of them, making one a 
center for history, another for science, etc. This latter policy, 
however, is not looked upon with favor, as it ignores the real 
significance of a university. Even now the local universities 
are losing many students to the Central University at Paris, 



114 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

which has aheady become too large for the highest type of 
scholastic efficiency. 

To check this tendency to centralization, due to the wealth 
and prominence of the University of Paris, the wealthy indi- 
viduals in the municipal university areas are beginning to 
endow special laboratories and departments of interest to 
local professions and industries. Other steps are being taken 
to awaken an interest and pride in these regional univer- 
sities. 

The University Faculties. — The professors in the universi- 
ties are appointed by the Minister of Pubhc Instruction, from 
a list of two for each position, nominated by the council of 
the faculty and the council of the university. There are 
several classes of faculty members in the French universities 
just as there are in other universities. The head professors 
must hold the doctorate. The salaries range from $1200 to 
$2400 in the provincial universities and from $2400 to $3000 
in the University of Paris. The professors are retired at 
seventy years of age, on a small pension. 

University Control. — In most respects the universities are 
quite autonomous, though the state retains the ultimate con- 
trol. Each university possesses a civil personahty, thus 
enabUng it to own property and to profit by the HberaHty of 
municipal and individual philanthropy. They are adminis- 
tered internally by a general university council composed 
of the rector, the deans, and elected delegates of each faculty. 
There is also a faculty council presided over by the dean for 
the management of the affairs of the individual faculty. 

Appeals are made from the faculty council to the university 
council and from there to the superior council of pubHc in- 
struction and thence to the Minister. 



France 115 

University Degrees and Diplomas. — The state reserves 
the right to grant all university degrees, but the faculties 
grant the degrees of bachelor Ucentiate, and special diplomas 
for various branches of study. These latter, however, do 
not rank as state degrees. 

The doctorate of the university was estabhshed in 1897 
to rival the German doctorate of philosophy and is held in 
high esteem. 

Since 1880 no private institution has been permitted to 
assume the name of university, though freedom of teaching 
is permitted to private faculties. Such an institution must 
maintain a course of study and a faculty in harmony with 
the standard set for the state institutions. Likewise, their 
students must pass the same examinations before the state 
professors. This restricted privilege has not been used to any 
extent, except by the Catholic Church, which has established 
twelve or more free faculties in theology, law, medicine, and 
science. 

Comparison with German Universities. — In the adminis- 
tration of her universities, France has pursued a pohcy of 
centralization, as shown in the superior development of the 
University of Paris, while Germany has pursued the opposite 
policy which has resulted in several universities equally 
great in essential respects, such as Berlin, Munich, Leipsic, 
Jena, Heidelberg. 

The French faculty is more careful in the awarding of 
degrees than the German faculty, though the German uni- 
versities have the reputation of maintaining the better 
method of university work. 

The French university makes a strong bid for American 
students, but owing to her different racial and national char- 



ii6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

acteristics, she has not won them as has the German uni- 
versities with their closer Teutonic ties. In this respect, 
the French university will never have the world-wide influ- 
ence again that it had in the medieval period of its history. 

Coeducation in the French universities is more general 
and is regarded with a more universal approval than in the 
German universities. The women go about their work in 
the French universities just as men do and with but little 
distraction from this mingling of the sexes. 

Scientific Influence of Universities. — France regards her 
scientific research work in the universities as a great source 
of wealth to her nation. The influence of this scientific work 
reaches out through every avenue of life to the meadows and 
brooks of the humblest peasant. It gives discipline and 
method to the mind in its discernment of the true from the 
false in moral life. It converts the resources of the nation 
into machines and power for the economic advancement 
of man. And in the scientific training of teachers, the French 
universities are directing the educational methods in the de- 
velopment of all the children of France. Likewise, in medi- 
cine, law, theology, letters, philosophy, and technical 
professions, the universities and colleges of France are vitaHz- 
ing the thought and practice of the nation. Not alone for 
French students, but for an increasing number of foreign 
students is France offering university study. This foreign 
influence of French science and method is farther extended by 
a system of exchange of professors with the universities of 
America and other countries. 

THE NORMAL SCHOOLS 
Their Distribution. — The normal school law of 1879 pro- 
vided for a normal school for each sex in each department, 



France 117 

but for economic reasons two adjacent departments may 
unite for one school. The present system is in accord with 
the law of 1887. The number now is 85 for men and 84 for 
women, or 169 normal schools for the training of teachers 
for the 68,728 common schools. This is not a heavy task to 
impose upon these schools, but their annual graduating class, 
which is about 3000, is not sufficient by one third to recruit 
the teaching staff. 

Their Organization. — The non-academic interests of the 
school are directed by an administrative board, composed 
of the academy inspector and two representatives of the 
academy general council, and four appointed by the rector 
of the academy. The duties of this board are similar to the 
duties of the board of normal trustees in America, though 
less extensive. The internal, or academic, interests of the 
normal are directed by the rector of the academy, the head 
or director, or directress of the school, and a committee of 
the faculty. The faculty consists of from three to five regular 
professors and special teachers for the modern languages, 
music, drawing, gymnastics, and agriculture. 

The normals are inspected by the academy and the general 
inspectors. 

The Normal Professors. — The faculty in the men's nor- 
mals are men and in the women's normals are most all women. 
All professors are appointed by the Minister of PubUc In- 
struction from a Ust who have passed a competitive examina- 
tion. To this examination are admitted only those who have 
the higher certificate and have taught two years. The prep- 
aration for this examination is made at the two higher normal 
schools, one for men, at St. Cloud, and one for women, at 
Fontenay aux Roses. These students in the higher normals 



ii8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

are also selected by competitive examination. Certainly, 
if there is virtue in competitive examinations, the faculties 
in the French normals are first class. 

Normal Practice Schools. — Each normal school has an 
ecole annexe, or practice school, or an ecole d* application, 
an ordinary school in the community, for the use of the 
teachers in the third year of their training. To the girls' 
school there is also an ecole maternelle attached. The amount 
of time given to observation and practice teaching in the 
lower normals is not great, amounting possibly to about 
sixty lessons. In the two higher normals, it is even less. 
However, it must be remembered in this connection that 
two years of teaching experience is required for admission 
to each of these normals. 

For admission to the third and last year of the course in 
the lower normals, an examination for the higher diploma 
and certificate is required. Then after two years of teaching 
the final examination is taken for the certificat d'aptitude pe- 
dagogique. This frees the teacher from further examina- 
tions and qualifies him for a permanent appointment which is 
made by the rector of the department. He then becomes an 
official of the state. 

The Curriculum. — The course of study is the same for 
all the lower primary normal schools, and has undergone 
but few changes since 1887. There are two courses, the liter- 
ary and the scientific, with three years of work in each. The 
subjects are the ones to be taught in the primary and higher 
primary schools, with additional work in the modern languages, 
English and German. 

The curriculum in the two higher normals includes fewer 
subjects, but these are taught more intensively. This course 



France 119 

also is three years and leads to the special certificate for teach- 
ing in the normal schools. 

The instruction is largely cultural, though it has a pro- 
fessional bias in the presence of psychology, morale, pedagogy, 
and practice teaching. A striking characteristic, in compari- 
son with the instruction in American schools, is the shght 
use of textbooks and the dominance of the lecture method. 
In the modern language work, the direct method is used, though 
the results obtained do not seem to justify this method over 
the translation method in use in America and elsewhere. 
Slight modifications are made in some subjects, such as 
mathematics, in the girls' schools, and some domestic sub- 
jects are introduced in their curriculum. 

In general, the normal school course is strong in the liter- 
ary and scientific training which it gives, but it is weak in 
the development of initiative, personaHty, and power. 

State Support. — The lower normals are equipped by the 
departments and maintained by the state, while the two 
higher normals are supported entirely by the state. The state 
also pays the living expenses of the pupils while at the school. 
This method of support by the state enables the teacher to 
take the full course of training, regardless of his own financial 
conditions. It is justified by the fact that the teacher be- 
comes an officer of the state under an agreement to remain in 
service at least ten years. This same requirement is made 
of the students in training in the two higher normal schools. 

Pensions. — At the age of sixty, after thirty years of active 
service, a teacher may retire upon a pension not exceeding 
half pay or falHng below six hundred francs for a man, or 
five hundred francs for a woman. This fund is provided by 
a five per cent tax on all regular teachers' salaries. In other 



I20 Modern Education in Europe a)id the Orient 

words, the teacher pays his own pension and the state acts 
as trustee of the fund. 

No other state is so paternalistic as France in the training 
of her teachers, in the guaranty of their positions, and in their 
care through old age. 

Critical Conditions Regarding Primary Teachers. — The 
question of salaries is one of the most critical problems at 
the present time. The salaries of teachers are lower than 
the salaries in other branches of the government and have 
not been readjusted since 1905. The changing economic 
conditions, with the attendant increase in the cost of living, 
therefore, have not been provided for in the case of the teach- 
ers. Furthermore, the slowness of the state system in the 
promotion of teachers to higher salaries is discouraging to 
the more capable and ambitious ones, the effect of which is 
to drive them out of the profession and to keep others of the 
same type from entering the profession. 

This attitude has been stimulated by the wide introduc- 
tion of vocational subjects into the elementary and secondary 
schools and the development of commercial, industrial, 
and technical schools. These new positions in the world of 
business are luring teachers and prospective teachers away 
from the profession. Especially is this true of men, as shown 
in the steady decrease in recent years, in the enrollment in 
the men's normal schools. There is also a decrease in the 
enrollment in the women's schools, but it is only about one 
half as great as that in the men's schools. 

This drift of men away from the teaching profession into 
the business positions will evidently leave the elementary 
schools of France in charge of women, just as is the case in 
the United States. At present the men and women are 



France 121 

about equal in number, but the proportion is gradually chang- 
ing, in obedience, as shown above, to universal economic 
laws. 

To meet this situation in part, the Minister recommended 
a five-year program for increase of salaries in 191 2 which 
called for an increase of from S40 to $60 per year. To meet 
this and other increases in the educational budget for the 
year 1914 over the year 1913, $7,000,000 were required. 

Next to the financial teacher problem is that of the social 
status of the craft. This problem has caused much unrest 
in recent years. The teachers complain of local tyranny 
and clerical criticism. The government is endeavoring to 
bring relief but the teachers are also active. The method 
pursued by the teachers has been that of the organization 
of local and federal unions. The government, by an act of 
1905, recognized such action as legal, but recently the Minister 
has ordered the federations to dissolve. This situation is a 
splendid illustration of the difference in the degree of free- 
dom allowed teachers in two sister republics ; in one, democ- 
racy is a name, in the other, it is a reality. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

The Status of the Church. — For 104 years, under the 
Concordat estabhshed by Napoleon I, in 1801, the church 
and the state were united and the state assumed the support 
of public worship. This bond, however, was broken in 1905, 
so that now all the churches are separated from the state 
and none of them receive any grant from the government. 
To each and all of the churches the government guarantees 
free and public exercise of their reUgious rites so long as the 
same does not interfere with the rights of society. 



122 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The Place of Religious Instruction. — This privilege car- 
ries with it the right of reUgious education in their own schools. 
It likewise excludes all rehgious instruction from the public 
schools. As a result, only moral education remains in the 
public school curriculum. The public school teachers are 
forbidden to give any form of religious instruction or to make 
any criticism of a religious faith. Likewise the textbooks 
are required to be wholly secular. 

Lay and Clerical Schools. — The result of the disestablish- 
ment of the church has been to stimulate the activity of the 
Catholic Church beyond expectation in both the church and 
the clerical schools. The statistics for 1913-14 show the 
following situation in the primary schools : 70,646 public 
primary schools with an enrollment of 4,973,179 and 14,464 
private schools, with an enrollment of 1,148,704. The private 
schools are practically all Roman Catholics, as the Protestants 
and Jews are relatively negligible. The proportion of schools 
between public and private is approximately 5 to i and of the 
pupils 4 to I. In secondary and higher education also the 
church is equally active. 

In this plan of separation of church and state and the com- 
plete secularization of the schools, France is following the 
example of the United States. The ramifications of the 
problem in the two countries are vastly different and the 
methods of treatment are equally different, but, in the course 
of time, the results are destined to be the same, as human 
nature and religion, with allowances for racial and certain 
other chance distinctions, function in accord with the same 
universal formula. The pendulum seems ever destined to 
swing back and forth between secular and religious con- 
trol. 



France 123 

EDUCATION IX THE FRENCH COLONIES 

Extent of Colonial Possessions. — The colonial possessions 
of France include an area of 3,820,000 square miles with a 
population of 49,000,000. These colonies are included in 
three important groups, the South American, Asiatic, and 
African. This area does not include Algeria, for this colony 
is administered as an integral part of France and has the 
school provisions of a regular department ; nor does it in- 
clude Tunis which is administered by the department of 
foreign affairs. 

Plan of Administration. — The government of the colonies 
is through a separate Ministry for colonial affairs. The French 
plan of coordination of local and central government is appHed 
to the colonies. This principle applies in the administra- 
tion of education. The support of the public schools comes 
from the state treasury as well as from the local colonial, 
communal, and provincial treasuries. Two types of schools 
are maintained, one for the Europeans, and one for the na- 
tives. The government has been wise in utihzing the na- 
tive schools and modernizing them, and in the recognition of 
the missionary schools among the natives. 

The poUcy of secularization, however, already in operation 
in France, is being appHed in the colonies as rapidly as condi- 
tions will permit. The work of the teaching congregations 
of the churches has been of great help to France and will 
doubtless continue active work under state approval but 
without secular support. 

The Mohammedan problem in some of the African colonies 
complicates the educational work very much. And every- 
where the government is taxed to the uttermost to adapt 
the French system of education to the local needs of so varied 



124 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

a population. Everywhere primary, secondary, and normal 
schools are being maintained. As yet the attendance upon 
the schools is very small in many colonies, but an ever widen- 
ing interest, backed by a compulsory school law, is already 
improving the conditions. Many difficulties confront the 
government, among which the language problem is one of 
the most perplexing. The people need the language of the 
dominant people who govern them, but its acquisition is 
retarded by the inertia of the native tongue. 

The Leading Colonies. — The leading American colonies 
are Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and St. Pierre. 
The African colonies are Senegal, Reunion, and Madagascar. 
The Asiatic colonies are Pondichery, Indo-China, and Kwang- 
chau-Wan. 

For public education in all of the colonies the government 
grants amount to more than a million dollars annually. 

PRESENT TENDENCIES IN FRENCH EDUCATION 

1. Among the teachers, the salary question is of most 
importance in all of their discussions. The unrest is general 
in both elementary and secondary ranks. In the National 
Federation of Professors, in recent years, a persistent appeal 
has been made for an increase in salaries. So far, the gov- 
ernment has responded only by a decree providing for the 
more rapid promotion of teachers to the higher positions 
with larger salaries. The heavy strain upon the nation's 
finances, due to the war, will defer a general increase in sal- 
aries for some time. 

2. A second important tendency is toward the reorganiza- 
tion of the girls' secondary schools. The prevailing opinion 
in France is that the course in the girls' Ivcees should be 



France 125 

extended two more years, making it equal to that in the boys' 
lycees, so as to prepare the girls for entrance to the university 
and for the higher diploma. 

3. The gradual approach of the primary and secondary 
systems so that parents may send their children to free schools 
until they are twelve and then transfer them to the secondary 
schools is meeting with great favor. The social value of this 
movement is very significant. It means that in time the 
social distinction in elementary education will be eliminated 
from the system. This modification will give the secondary 
school a clear field as it has in America. 

4. Since the entire suppression of the teaching orders in 
1 9 14 the schools have become wholly secular and are develop- 
ing an elaborate system of moral instruction to take the 
place of the religious education. This is the culmination 
of the struggle between the state and the church for the con- 
trol of education. 

5. The government is fostering all kinds of agencies for 
improving the intellectual, industrial, and social welfare of 
the women beyond the primary school. Local and federated 
societies are engaged in various forms of social betterment 
work for the laboring classes. The Republic itself is court- 
ing the support of these agencies by offering to them every 
possible service of the public schools. Among these many 
agencies is the Musee Pedagogique which is a creator of unify- 
ing and stimulating influences for the various lines of edu- 
cational extension work. It has a large library and an exten- 
sive supply of lantern slides and other materials for the aid of 
those doing public lecture work. This agency is especially 
active in rural districts. 

6. There has been a strong tendency in recent years on the 



126 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

part of the teachers to protest against the centrahzing con- 
trol of the state. This democratic movement has driven the 
government to define more closely, though liberally, the 
status of civil servants. The controversy has centered 
around the teachers' unions and their federation into a national 
union. The teachers seem destined to win the essential 
claim in the controversy. 

7. The reorganization going on in the secondary schools 
is emphasizing more and more the advantages of the group 
system of subjects as a means of adapting the course of study 
to the various needs of the pupils. A recent effort has been 
made to save Latin and Greek by making them centers of 
subject groups for the sake of their literary and cultural 
value. 

In this reorganization of the secondary curriculum the 
scientific studies have won a place of equal importance and 
prominence with the humanistic subjects. 

8. In the medical studies, a reorganization is as active as 
is found anywhere. The demand is for a liberal extension 
of both the theoretical and practical studies, with greater 
emphasis upon specialization. More ample provisions are 
desired for hospital service with compulsory hospital courses 
backed by a place in the final examinations. The require- 
ments for entrance to the medical course is the bachelor's 
degree, and the course is five years of nine months each. 

9. The universities are showing a marked tendency toward 
leadership in the training necessary for all forms of social 
development in their respective localities. This is shown 
in the development of laboratories for the training of experts 
in local industries. 

10. The association of women teachers is working persist- 



France 127 

ently for the spread of coeducation through the wider estab- 
lishment of mixed schools. They also ask for a more general 
appointment of women in the higher grades and in the in- 
spectors' service. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Show the merits in the centralized control of education in the 
French system. 

2. Account for the prevalence of the separation of the sexes in the 
French schools. 

3. Show the superiority of the French over the German provisions 
for the education of children under six years of age. 

4. Compare the French lycee with the American classical high school, 
both as to likeness and difference. 

5. Show the difference between the French and the American bache- 
lors' degrees. 

6. Compare the provisions for agricultural education in France with 
that in the United States. 

7. Show the superior merits of the French system of training elemen- 
tary teachers over that in England. 

8. Compare religious education in France with that in Holland. 

9. What provisions are made in France for the recognition of private 
initiative in education ? 

10. In what directions are improvements being sought and secured 
for French women ? 

Special Bibliography 

Baker, E. H. France of the French, 1910, Charles Scribner's Sons, 
New York. 

CoMPAYRE, G. Contemporary Educational Thought in France, Edu- 
cational Review, Vol. XXVII, 1904, pp. 19-35, New York. Re- 
form in Secondary Education in France, Educational Review, 
Vol. XXV, 1903, pp. 130-145- 

Education in France, Monroe's Encyclopedia of Education, 
Vol. II, 191 1, The Macmillans, New York. 



128 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Farrington, F. E. French Secondary Schools, 1910, Longmans, Green 

and Company, New York. 

The Public Primary School System of France, 1906, Teachers 

College, Columbia University, New York. 
Klemm, p. R. European Schools, 1891, New York. 
PoiNCARE, Raymond, President of France, How France is Governed, 

McBride, Nash and Company, New York. 
Sadler, M. E. The Unrest in Secondary Education in Germany and 

Elsewhere, English Board of Education, Special Reports, Vol. 

IX, pp. 1-191, London. 
Smith, Anna Tolman. Education in the Colonies of France, Monroe's 

Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. II, 191 1, The Macmillans, New 

York. 
The United States Bureau of Education. Report of the Commissioner 

of Education. All phases of French Education, in Volumes I for 

each year from 1909-15. 
Thwing, C. F. Universities of the World, 191 1, The Macmillan Com- 
pany, New York. 
Ware, Fabian. Educational Foundations of Trade and Industry, 

1901, Appleton and Company, New York. 



GERMANY 
CHAPTER IV 

THE GOVERNMENT 

The Empire. — The German Empire, as it is to-day, had 
its origin in the period of Napoleonic ascendancy. But its 
unification was not completed until January i8, 187 1, when 
William I was proclaimed German Emperor. From the 
foundation of the Confederation in 181 5, through the revolu- 
tion of 1848, and the organization of the North German Bund 
of 1867, the poHtical movements advanced steadily towards 
the establishment of a Constitutional Empire under a sover- 
eign to be known as the Deutscher Kaiser. The commercial 
treaties among the states and the war with France in 1870-71 
resulted in the long hoped for union. William, King of 
Prussia, was proclaimed Emperor of Germany. 

The Empire consists of twenty-six states, including Alsace- 
Lorraine, which was elevated to the position of equality with 
the other states in 191 1. The total area of the Empire is 
208,780 square miles, and her population is 64,903,423. 
Prussia, the largest of the states, has an area of 134,616 
square miles, and a population of 40,163,333. 

The Emperor. — Under the constitution, the King of Prus- 
sia is also the German Emperor. The functions given him 
K 129 



130 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

make him next to absolute. He is commander-in-chief of 
the navy and army, with power, under certain conditions, to 
declare war and conclude peace and to represent the Empire 
among nations. Likewise in legislation and justice he has 
in reality, though not technically, the initiative and veto. 
This tremendous power is further enhanced by his right to 
appoint and dismiss subordinate officials. 

Practically the Emperor stands alone at the head of the 
government, there being no Ministry or Cabinet as is the case 
in other countries, such as France and the United States. 
This function is discharged by a single official, the Reichs- 
kanzler, or Chancellor. He is appointed by the Emperor 
and, in fact, is responsible solely to him. His position gives 
him great power so long as he is in harmony with the Emperor. 

Bundesrath. — The most unique and characteristic factor 
in the German scheme of government is the federal council, 
or Bundesrath. 

This body is, in fact, the controlling institution of the 
Empire, with functions pertaining to every department of 
government. Its membership consists of sixty-one delegates 
from the twenty-six states. The delegates from each state 
vote as a unit. Prussia has twenty-one votes, hence her 
great power in this body, which is never broken except by a 
combination of the smaller states against her, which seldom 
happens. This body has, in practice, the initiative and ref- 
erendum in legislation, supplementary administrative powers 
in the execution of Imperial Laws, and sits as a supreme 
court on questions appealed from state courts or on questions 
pertaining to the constitutionahty of laws and acts. The 
presiding officer of this body is the Chancellor, who represents 
its proceedings on the floor of the Reichstag. 



Germany 131 

As President of the Bundesrath and its sponsor on the floor 
of the Reichstag, the Chancellor represents the policy of the 
government. The federal control of education such as exists 
is under his administration. 

Reichstag. — The Reichstag represents the people of the 
whole empire, not by states, but by popular electors, through 
a secret ballot on the same day throughout the Empire. The 
electoral districts originally had 100,000 inhabitants each, 
but these districts now are very unequal in population, though 
the number of representatives has not changed, the total 
being 397. The franchise is extended to every male citizen 
twenty-five years of age, without respect to state boundary 
lines. Any such citizen is eligible to election to the Reichstag. 
The powers of this popular house are very small in comparison 
with those of the popular houses in the United States, France, 
and England. It has but little right of initiative, though 
its consent is necessary to all legislation. However, if it 
becomes an obstructionist, the Emperor and the Bundesrath 
have the power to dissolve it, which has been done on several 
occasions. 

Justice. — Under the imperial constitution the Empire 
has " general legislation as to the whole domain of civic and 
criminal law, and of judicial procedure." By virtue of this 
authority the Empire has adopted legal codes that have 
placed all state courts in the federal systems. The officials 
are appointed by local governments but controlled in their 
actions by federal law. 

Above all of these state courts stands the Reichsgericht, 
which is the only real imperial court. The ninety-two 
members of the court are nominated by the Bundesrath and 
appointed by the Emperor. The court sits in Leipsic. 



132 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

State Governments. — Each of the twenty-six German 
states has its own government, which is essentially complete 
within itself though limited by imperial control. Three of 
these, Bremen, Hamburg, and Liibeck, are aristocratic re- 
publics ; the others are monarchies. Prussia, the largest of 
these states, has approximately two thirds of the population 
of the entire Empire, and is, therefore, the controlling state 
in the Empire. In all of the states the principles of autocracy 
control in the organization and methods of the government. 
Each government is strongly centralized, but has in certain 
respects large provision for local control. 

Education is a matter of state support and control under 
certain imperial regulations. 

ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 

General Plan. — Each German state has its own school 
system which is strongly centralized, but which in recent 
years is tending more to the recognition of the spirit of freedom 
in the individual schools. While France is retaining the hold 
by the central department upon every detail in the system, 
and while America is moving toward a more centralized 
control, Germany is JSinding herself under a force of social 
democracy that calls for more local control. But Germany 
moves slowly and is in no danger of an educational revolu- 
tion. 

In some respects the Prussian system is typical of the other 
state systems, but each has its own striking characteristics 
just as one kind of school in a system is different from all 
other kinds. 

Each system has elementary schools for the lower classes, 
middle schools for the middle classes, and gymnasia and modi- 



Germany 133 

fied gymnasia for the upper classes, that are preparing for. the, 
universities and through them for professional life. 

Relation of Federal Government. — The imperial or federal 
government has but little control over the state school systems. 
This control is vested in the Imperial Chancellor, who is as- 
sisted by the Imperial School Commission, which consists 
of seven members, representing the twenty-live different 
states. This Commission holds but one meeting a year to 
discharge its function, which is of but slight educational 
consequence. This duty is confined to fixing the require- 
ments for the privilege of the one year of military service and 
bestowing upon the individual schools the right to grant 
these certificates. It is thus apparent that the central 
government in Germany has no control in education that 
is at all comparable with that in the French or British 
systems. 

In Germany, however, the Imperial Child Labor Law of 
1903 has a direct bearing upon education in every state and 
serves thereby as a unifying and controlling factor in educa- 
tion throughout the Empire. Likewise, the agreement among 
the majority of the states to recognize the examinations for 
admission to the universities is a unifying factor in higher 
education. 

State Control of Education. — The several states regulate 
their school systems through constitutional provisions, laws, 
and ordinances. These acts generally deal with the lower 
and higher systems separately. The direction of the educa- 
tional work is through some one of the Ministries, though this 
Ministry is not given exclusively to educational work. The 
Minister has a staff of assistants to supervise the field work. 
For the crystallization of public sentiment on some important 



134 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

educational reform, the Minister resorts to a state conference 
with representatives from all classes of society. This method 
of state control is true only in general, as each state formulates 
its own plan of administration. 

Local Control of Education. — In the larger states, between 
the Ministry and the local schools stands an intermediate 
board, the members of which are generally appointed by the 
Ministry. Some of these boards have professors in their 
membership while others are composed entirely of laymen. 
These boards have general charge of the schools in their 
territory and are, in most cases, responsible to the central 
authorities. In some states, Prussia, for instance, the county 
is the next smaller school unit, with a school board for the 
direction of the internal affairs of the schools. Finally, the 
local communes and districts have school boards whose 
duties pertain to the external administration of the schools. 

The variations in administration are so numerous that a 
description in detail of any one system would be of but little 
value. The main fact is that the system, as to essential 
features, is under central control and that an appreciable 
amount of local control is permitted. 

COMPULSORY EDUCATION 

One of the most noteworthy characteristics of the German 
system is the successful working of the compulsory school 
law, as it is reenforced by the child-labor law. For nearly 
two centuries, since 1717, Prussia has had some form of com- 
pulsory school law ; and for the past half century, since 1869, 
the imperial child-labor law has forbidden the employment 
of children under twelve years of age. Added to these two 
laws are the provisions (i) for a thorough system of inspec- 



Germany 135 

tion by civil, church, and school officials, and (2) a complete 
system of registration of pupils. This machinery for the 
enforcement of school attendance is backed by generations 
of culture and military obedience to the regulations of a 
strongly centralized government. School attendance has 
become a habit in the realization of a national ideal, in which 
cooperation of all institutions of society, church, and state 
is the keynote. 

So perfectly is this law enforced, that, as early as 1901, 
out of 5,754,728 children of school age, only 548 evaded at- 
tendance. This is fewer than one out of every ten thousand. 
Another test of the efficiency of this compulsory law is found 
in the illiteracy statistics for the German Empire in 19 10, 
which shows only 3 in 10,000 illiterates. But Germany is 
not satisfied with the attendance of children only up to the 
fourteenth year. She is making rapid progress in extending 
the compulsory period to include attendance upon continua- 
tion schools for from one to three years. Already five of the 
states have passed such laws either for direct enforcement 
or by making state aid contingent upon compulsory attend- 
ance. 

In evaluating the German school system from this point 
of view several significant features are to be taken into con- 
sideration ; such as, density of population, homogeneity of 
people, even distribution of wealth, military centralized 
system of government, union of church and state, long lineage 
of educated parentage. 

KINDERGARTEN AND BEWAHRANSTALTEN 

It seems strange to an American that the kindergarten is 
not a part of the German school system, but such is true. It 



136 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

was Jena, however, and her idealistic philosophy that gave 
to Froebel the suggestions and the inspiration that led to 
the development of the kindergarten. And his distinguished 
pupil, also a German, the Baroness von Biilow, further de- 
veloped the institution and introduced it into all of the leading 
countries. In many of them it is a part of the state or city 
system of schools. But in others, as in the United States, 
its recognition has been cordial and its influence upon primary 
education has been great, yet its incorporation into state and 
city systems until recently has been by professional approval 
rather than by legislation. 

In Germany, but few centers of kindergarten interest exist. 
These are Hamburg, Dresden, Berlin, and a few other cities. 
Where found, the kindergartens are supported by municipal 
grants. In recent years the influence of the kindergartens 
has been spreading. 

An older institution for the care of children, younger than 
six years of age, is the Bewahranstalten, which divided the 
field with the kindergarten. Of the two institutions com- 
bined, there are in Germany about one thousand. Notwith- 
standing the German origin of the kindergarten, it has had 
a greater influence upon American elementary education than 
it has had upon the German. 

In 1910, there were in the United States 7557 kindergartens 
with an enrollment of 353,546 children between the ages of 
4 and 6. This, however, is only 9 per cent of the children 
of kindergarten age. The increasing public interest in this 
institution, in America, is further shown by the fact that in 
the decade from 1902 to 191 2 the number of kindergartens 
increased 133 per cent and the enrollment 72 per cent, while 
87 per cent of these numbers were publicly supported. 



Germany .137 

THE VOLKSSCHULE 

Its Place in the System. — The Volksschule is the common 
people's school and is patronized by the children of the laborers 
and the small business people. It compares very closely with 
the American elementary school in that it is free and that it 
includes the elementary branches necessary to all education. 
Attendance upon it is compulsory from six to fourteen years 
of age. In the rural districts and small villages it is a one- 
class school for both boys and girls, but in the cities it consists 
of separate schools for the sexes. 

This school is supplemented by the Hilfsschule, or auxiliary 
school, for backward pupils. The Ministry of Education 
directs these two types of schools in the minutest details. 

Paralleled by the Mittelschule. — The Volksschule is par- 
alleled by the Mittelschule, or higher elementary school, for 
the middle class of people. The course of study differs from 
that of the Volksschule in that it includes one or more lan- 
guages, generally French and English, and elementary science 
and has one or two more years' work. Only about 2^ per 
cent of the elementary pupils are in the middle schools. The 
enrollment in these two types of schools is increasing some- 
what faster than the population of the entire country. It is 
also interesting to note that over one half of the people's 
schools are one-class schools. And taking the population 
and the common school enrollment in Prussia as the basis, 
over 16 per cent of the population is in the people's schools. 
Evidently, with all of Germany's class distinction, the over- 
whelming numbers of her population are just common folk. 

Problem of Overcrowded Classes. — This school for the 
common people presents a problem, or situation, not generally 



138 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

considered in evaluating the supposed superior merits of the 
German school system. Approximately one fifth of the 6^ 
million pupils in the common schools of Prussia are in greatly 
overcrowded classes, ranging from 54.7 to 57.8 pupils to the 
teacher. In the Empire, as a whole, the condition is worse. 
This is in keeping with the German theory, or policy, of dealing 
with the masses without proper regard to the individual. 
This condition is destined to become a vital factor in the great 
social unrest now already prevalent in Germany. Partial 
remedies are being tried in the form of the auxiliary classes, 
referred to above, and in a device known as the " Mannheim 
system," which consists in dividing the pupils into three 
classes on the basis of ability and providing them with appro- 
priate courses of study and specially trained teachers. These 
devices, however, leave the root of the trouble untouched. 
Germany needs more schools for her common people. 

THE MITTELSCHULE 

The Mittelschule, or middle school, as stated above, par- 
allels in some respects the work of the Volksschule, but differs 
from it in providing for language and science work and in 
having a longer course. In 19 10, a new course was provided 
for the middle schools in Prussia, with nine years of work, so 
arranged as to articulate with the higher schools, or to pre- 
pare for special needs. In the southern states, especially 
in Baden, this type of school is well developed and has prac- 
tically supplanted the old burgher school. More freedom 
is granted this school than is allowed the elementary school. 
Although this is a fee school, yet a number of free scholarships 
are maintained in it. 



Germany 139 

The Curriculum. — The electjve principle is also a new 
feature in this school. In Baden, for instance, even Latin 
and Greek, as well as French and Enghsh, are per- 
mitted as electives in the middle school. These electives 
are begun in the sixth class (4th grade). To the girls' 
middle or high schools in Prussia, a tenth year has recently 
been added to help prepare them for the university, or for 
admission to the girls' teachers seminaries that are attached 
to the girls' high schools. In 191 1, out of a total of 426 
girls' high schools, 92 had training seminaries for teachers. 
It is thus apparent that the middle school is coming to be a 
distinct secondary school, especially for girls, though many 
exist for boys, and still others for mixed classes. 

The Prussian Type. — A summary of the special provisions 
of the Prussian law of 1910, governing these middle schools, 
is as follows : (i) the ninth year is added to the compulsory 
period; (2) the first three to five years may parallel the ele- 
mentary school, or may be omitted entirely; (3) the Real- 
schule, a secondary school without Latin, may be changed to 
a middle school; (4) fees may be charged in these schools; 
(5) separate schools for the sexes shall be maintained where 
the numbers are sufficient ; (6) middle schools may change 
into classical high schools. 

Special Adaptation. — This school meets distinct needs 
not met by other types of schools in many towns and cities, 
but it is not adapted to rural districts. It regards, however, 
the German principle of the segregation of the social classes 
and makes a special appeal to the middle classes, who desire 
more than the elementary course but need specialized instruc- 
tion for service in the arts and crafts. Such subjects as com- 
mercial courses, drafting and manual training, for boys, and 



140 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

domestic subjects, for girls, are offered. The fees are not so 
large as those in the high schools. This school compares 
very favorably with the two- or three-year high school in 
America. It marks a distinct tendency in German education. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

Place in the System. — The secondary schools of Germany 
form a system, or type of schools, only partially connected 
with the elementary and intermediate schools. In a sense, 
they form a system by themselves. They are the traditional 
conventional school for the upper classes and for those enter- 
ing the universities. It is this school that has preserved the 
humanistic subjects and culture of the middle ages. Its 
prototype, in essential respects, is found in the lycees of 
France, the " Great Public Schools " of England, and the 
classical high schools of America. This comparison, however, 
is far from adequate to make clear the real place and signifi- 
cance of the German Gymnasium. 

Group of Differentiated Schools. — The secondary schools 
consist of a group of differentiated high schools evolved from 
the classical Gymnasium by the introduction of modern sub- 
jects in the place of a part or all of the classical languages. 
The modification is further made by a shortening of the course, 
from nine to six years, in some schools, for those not going 
to the university. In general the schools of this group run 
as follows : — 

(a) I. Gymnasium, nine years, classical. 

2. Realschule, nine years, with Latin. 

3. Oberrealschule, nine years, without Latin. 



Oermmy 14(1 

Since 1900, these three schools have had equal legal recog- 
nition, but, socially, the Gymnasium still has the prestige. 

{h) I. The Progymnasium, six years, classical. 

2. Realprogymnasium, six years, with Latin. 

3. Realschule, six years, without Latin. 

These six-year schools are found in cities that cannot sup- 
port the full nine-year course, but the work is so arranged 
that the graduates can enter the nine-year schools and finish 
in three years. Many of them, however, drop out of the 
school at this point and go into the world of business. 

The privilege of serving but one year in the army, granted 
to the graduates of this group of schools, has made the six- 
year course very popular. 

However, in Prussia, by way of illustration, there are fully 
twice as many nine-year schools as six-year schools. And 
of the students in the nine-year schools, nearly half are in the 
Gymnasia. 

The subjects common to all of the nine-year and the six-year 
schools, are religion, mathematics, history, and German, and 
minor subjects, such as singing, gymnastics, and drawing. 
Through the recent application of the principle of electives, 
the curricula of these several types of secondary schools are 
coming to serve as many different purposes, within their social 
range, as are the versatile American high schools. 

The Vorschule. — Attached to many of these secondary 
schools is a Vorschule, with a three-year preparatory course. 
The completion of this school, or the first three grades of the 
Volksschule, or the middle school, admits to the first year of 
the secondary school. The normal student is nine years of age 
at this transition period. The Vorschule is the popular route 



142 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

into the secondary school, both for the social reason and be- 
cause of the better preparation for the special type of work 
ahead of the student. 

Girls' Secondary Schools. — Only in certain places, such 
as Baden, Hesse, Wiirttemberg, and smaller towns, are 
the girls admitted to secondary schools with boys. This 
condition is gradually spreading, but the prevailing German 
policy is to provide separate schools of modified curriculum, 
for the girls, and in Prussia, in particular, by the regulations 
of 1908, the girls are not permitted to attend the boys' schools. 
In the main, the girls' school has a ten-year course, from the 
sixth to the sixteenth year, or a seven-year course with the 
lower three years otherwise provided for, as in the case of the 
boys' schools. 

The Lyzeum. — Above the ten-year course is: (i) a two- 
year course, the Frauenschule, offering a combination house- 
wifery and kindergarten training to prepare girls for life in 
the home, and (2) a four-year course, the Higher Training 
School, that prepares for teaching in the two-year Lyzeum, 
the girls' elementary and middle schools. 

The completion of these Lyzeum courses grants no special 
privileges. 

Studienanstalt. — For the girls who desire a higher edu- 
cation or who desire to prepare for the university, another 
type of school exists. This school begins with the eighth or 
ninth year of the ten-year school and offers practically the 
same courses as the upper six years or five years of the boys' 
nine-year secondary schools. They include some needle 
work, less Latin, and more of the modern languages. Thus 
the girls require one more year than the boys in preparing 
for the university. Of all the girls' higher schools, only 



Germany 143 

about one tenth admit to the university. This percentage, 
however, is appreciably increasing in recent years. 

The Reifepriifung. — In the German system of secondary 
and higher education, great value is attached to the final 
examination, Reifepriifung, at the end of the preparatory 
courses. For boys, the examination comes at the end of the 
three nine-year courses, and for the girls it comes at the end 
of the Studienanstalt, and the third year of the Lyzeum. The 
minimum age of the boys is eighteen, and of the girls nine- 
teen, the girls' preparation being one year longer than that of 
the boys. 

The distinctions attached to this examination are social, 
military, and academic. 

Socially, it sets a standard up to which thousands of young 
citizens are thereby stimulated to rise for their own personal 
and social good. From a military standpoint, it opens to 
the young men the privilege of service as officers in the army 
and navy of their country. As an academic distinction, it 
admits to the universities and the higher technical schools. 
In the American system of education there is no state or na- 
tional leaving examination from any type of educational in- 
stitution that is at all comparable with this particular function 
in the German system. 

It is conducted by a Priifungs Kommission (examination 
commission) which is composed of the commissioner of the 
school board, the director of the gymnasium, and the teacher 
of the particular subject, who prepares the questions. 

Its Merits and Demerits. — The merits of the system are 
apparent, as are its demerits. It sets a common standard 
for the school of the state. It raises to the highest degree the 
possible school attendance throughout the course, for the 



144 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

purpose of reaching a fixed goal. It guarantees academic 
fitness in the higher social and professional walks of life. But 
as the sine qua non of higher preferment, there is the pos- 
sibiHty of its keeping many boys and girls in school who ought 
not to be there and in denying recognition to those who might 
ascend by other ladders. 

The success of those taking the examinations is illustrated 
by the percentages passing in Prussia, for the year 1908. Of 
the 1856 students in the three types of nine-year schools for 
boys, 96.5 per cent passed. It is interesting also to notice 
that of all those that passed 77.5 per cent went on to the uni- 
versities and technical higher schools. This percentage is 
much higher than that of the graduates of American high 
schools who enter higher institutions of learning. In making 
such comparison the great differences indigenous to the two 
systems would have to be taken into consideration. The 
fact remains, however, that the German preparatory schools 
are highly efficient from the point of view for which they are 
designed. Americans need also to observe that Germany, 
with all of her conservatism, is now admitting boys to the 
university from the Oberrealschule and girls from the Lyzeum 
and Studienanstalt, with neither Greek nor Latin. 

But the German preparatory schools are fee schools, about 
$37.50 per year, while the American high school is free and is 
not maintained to foster a social caste. Each system is doing 
its work well. The German system is rooted in formal phi- 
losophy, while the American system is the product of the spirit 
of individual initiative. 

THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

A Double System. — The two parallel vertical systems of 
elementary and secondary schools of Germany necessitate 



Germany .145 

two distinct systems of teacher-training. The teachers in 
the elementary schools have not the training to qualify them 
for service in the secondary schools, and on the other hand the 
teacher in the secondary schools is not adapted by training 
to teach in the elementary school. The segregation of the 
sexes in both types of schools, also, necessitates parallel 
systems of training for the men and women teachers. 

Elementary Teachers. — Teachers for the Volksschule are 
prepared in Lehrerseminare, or normal schools, distinct for 
men and women. To each of these schools is attached a 
practice school. The course is three years in length. For 
admission to the Lehrerseminar is required the eight-year 
course, or its equivalent, in a preparatory school which is 
generally attached to the seminar, though not maintained 
by the state. 

These Lehrerseminare are located in small towns, or oc- 
casionally in rural districts. They are small institutions with 
fewer than a hundred students and with six or seven instruc- 
tors. 

Source of Students. — Practically all of the students that 
enter the Tehrerseminare come by the way of the Volksschule 
though a few enter by way of examinations from preparation 
in the middle and Realschule, and the Lyzeum. In other words, 
the teachers in the Volksschule come from the lower social strata. 

The Lehrerseminar, being the only free school above the 
Volksschule, is crowded with applicants for this examination 
for admission. As a result the examination is very rigid and 
the percentage of failure is large. The Lehrerseminar-pre- 
parator}^ schools are both state and private institutions, in the 
proportion of 34 to 66 respectively ; as to students, 32 to 68 ; 
and as to Protestants and Catholics, 66 to 34, on the basis 



146 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

of enrollment. This illustration is from the Prussian system 
and applies only in a general way to other states. It seems 
to make emphatic the extent to which the churches are funda- 
mentally connected with the training of teachers for the people's 
lower schools. Another fact to be observed in this connec- 
tion is that the preparatory school is a fee school, which should 
be regarded as a weakness in the German system, in comparison 
with some other systems. 

Teachers' Examinations. — After the completion of the 
Lehrerseminar course, the teachers are required to pass three 
examinations before receiving a certificate for permanent 
appointment. The first examination comes at the end of the 
Lehrerseminar course and is conducted by a commissioner of the 
government. This certificate entitles the teacher to a position 
on probation. The second examination comes after two to 
five years and consists of tests on professional phases of edu- 
cation. This second certificate entitles the holder to a per- 
manent position as a government official and to a pension 
after sixty-five years of age. For teachers who wish to go 
higher in the profession, two other examinations are necessary. 
The first of these secures a certificate to teach in the middle 
schools and the second a certificate to hold the principalship 
of elementary schools. 

These provisions apply in a general way to women teachers 
as well as men. The training schools for women teacjiers, 
however, are the higher Training Seminars in the girls' 
Lyzeums. Reciprocity among the states as to certificate 
privileges does not exist to any great extent, owing to the 
diversity in the methods of granting them. For this reason 
and others there is but little migration of teachers from one 
state to another. 



Germany 147 

Course of Study. — The course of study in the Lehrer- 
seminare includes religion, pedagogy, practice- teaching, and 
all the subjects of the Volksschule curriculum. The work is 
thorough and is designed to train the teacher to teach with 
but little use of textbooks, a characteristic feature of the 
German method of instruction. The teacher is also trained 
to teach every subject in the curriculum. The course of 
study and methods are outlined and directed by the central 
state authorities in minute detail, which gives a uniformity 
not always conducive to progress or to local adaptation. 

Lehrerseminar Faculty. — The faculty in the Lehrer- 
seminar consists usually of a director and six assistants. 
These are generally taken from the rank of rectors or prin- 
cipals of the elementary schools, though some of them come 
from the clergy, owing to the close relationship between the 
church and the school. As a consequence of this course of 
selection of the faculty, but Uttle influence of the universities 
is felt in the Lehrerseminar or in the Volksschule. This, 
however, in the course of time, will be remedied, as provision 
is being slowly made for the recognition of the elementary 
teachers' certificate for admission to special courses in the 
universities. The problem, however, is a big lump for a 
little leaven. 

Free Tuition. — As stated above, the preparatory school 
to the Lehrerseminar is a fee school, though in some places 
this fee is remitted. In the Lehrerseminar, however, the 
tuition is free and in some cases the state pays the living ex- 
penses of the student. The state also pays for the buildings 
and grounds and for their maintenance. But in comparison 
with France, Germany is not so paternalistic in the prepara- 
tion of her teachers for the lower schools. 



148 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Proportion of Women and Men. — To an American who is 
accustomed to seeing so large a percentage of women teachers 
in all of the elementary grades, the opposite condition in 
Germany is striking. The prevailing policy is to employ no 
women in the boys' schools except in the lower grades, and, 
even there, men are also employed. Men are also employed 
in the girls' schools. For the year 191 1, in the elementary 
schools 78 per cent of the teachers were men and 22 per cent 
women. In the middle schools 68 per cent were men. This 
comparison indicates a vast difference between German and 
American social and economic conditions. Its explanation 
is deep-rooted in German society. 

For Vocational Schools. — The regulations in the German 
system require special training for the teachers of vocational 
subjects. These subjects, in Prussia, are under the admin- 
istration of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, except 
in the case of the technical high schools, which are under the 
Ministry of Education. In this kingdom, the teachers of 
vocational subjects have been placed on the same basis, 
practically, as other teachers, as regards salaries, pensions, 
rank, etc. This has resulted in recent years in drawing a high 
class of persons into this phase of school work. 

For Girls' Schools. — Since 1907 the government has pro- 
vided quite liberally for the training of women teachers of 
vocational subjects in the elementary, middle, and higher 
schools, and the special continuation schools. The subjects 
included in this training are women's handiwork, household 
arts, industrial arts. Three state schools are maintained 
for this purpose, which require for admission the completion 
of a girls' middle or high school course. The course consists 
of two years of theoretical training in technical subjects, 



Germany 149 

pedagogy, German,- civics, gymnastics, and singing. This 
is followed by half of a year in practical work and one year 
of probational teaching before the certificate is issued. This 
Prussian plan is followed quite generally throughout Germany ; 
Much of the training, however, is being done in private schools, 
not only so, but a large percentage of the teachers in the 
vocational schools are taken from other ranks with but little 
special training. In this respect, the German situation par- 
allels that in the United States. 

For Trade Schools. — And for the schools for the building 
trades and mechanical engineering, Germany has made but 
little special provision for the training of teachers. Most 
of these teachers come from the higher technical institutes 
with no professional training except what they get themselves 
by special arrangements. Excellent systems for the training 
of trade teachers are found in three important cities, Munich, 
Wiirttemberg, and Karlsruhe in Baden. The school at Karls- 
ruhe is said to be the best in all Germany. This course covers 
three and one-half years of work. The student body come 
from the ranks of regular academic teachers who have already 
had pedagogical training and from the tradesmen who have 
had academic but no pedagogical instruction. Many of these 
students are on leave of absence from their positions and are 
in training for special work back in their home schools. The 
standards set by these special schools are high, but the in- 
creasing demands throughout the Empire for trained expert 
service is calUng for more schools of this type. These posi- 
tions are all entered through a state examination by a com- 
mittee of the National Industrial Commission. In many re- 
spects the provision for vocational training in Germany is as 
incomplete as it is in France, England, and the United States. 



150 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Secondary Teachers. — No separate schools exist for the 
training of secondary teachers as is the case for the training 
of elementary teachers. This work is done in the universities, 
technical institutions, and higher school Seminars. Ever 
since 1737, certain German universities have had pedagogi- 
cal Seminars for the training of secondary teachers. The 
following universities are famous for this work at the present 
time, — ^Jena, Halle, Gottingen, Konigsberg, Berlin, Leipsic. 
Such names as Wolf and Franke at Halle, Herbart at Konigs- 
berg, Rein at Jena, Ziller at Leipsic, are household words in 
German pedagogical circles. 

The training of a secondary teacher consists of graduation 
from a secondary nine-year school, at least three years in a 
university, or a technical institution and a university com- 
bined, the passing of a rigid examination by special commis- 
sioners, and, finally, two years on probation — a seminar year 
and a trial year — both in a secondary school under the direc- 
tion of the rector or headmaster. 

The above is an outline of the minimum preparation of a 
secondary teacher, but many of them complete the work for 
the doctor's degree before they take the teachers' examination. 
On the basis of time spent, the German secondary teacher 
receives no more training than the teacher in standard Ameri- 
can high schools, where one or two years of graduate study are 
required. The main difference lies in the extent of speciali- 
zation and in the methods of instruction. 

The examination of all applicants is in the general subjects 
— philosophy, pedagogy, and German literature — and in 
a special group consisting of a major and two minor sub- 
jects. 

The importance attached to this examination is very great, 



Germany 151 

but its value may be variously -estimated. There is quite 
a diversity of opinion among the universities themselves as 
to the value of the study of education as a university subject. 
This is shown by the fact that a number of the universities 
have thus far declined to establish a separate department, 
or a special chair, for such work. Such courses as are given 
are decided by the department of philosophy. These courses 
consist of psychology, ethics, and pedagogy. The pedagogy 
is mainly history of education, methods, and systems, with 
but very little experimental work. Jena is the only univer- 
sity that has a practice school of its own. This is largely 
due to the influence of Professor Rein. Leipsic uses the city 
Gymnasium for practice work. Hence, the professional train- 
ing in the universities throughout the Empire is largely theo- 
retical. 

Gymnasial Seminars. — For the practical training, the 
teachers are assigned, after the state examination, to gym- 
nasial Seminars, geographically distributed throughout the 
provinces that are in need of teachers. The group in each 
Seminar usually consists of from six to ten teachers. Some of 
the states have but very few such institutions for practical 
work, and a few have none, but depend upon other states 
for this work. The work in the Seminar consists of the theory 
and practice of pedagogy under normal conditions and under 
efhcient instructors. The general opinion of those who have 
had experience with the Seminar is that the work is good. 
Prussia is well supplied with gymnasium Seminars, there 
being forty-nine in this state, in 1909. 

The work in all of these institutions is well standardized 
throughout the states, by the central government, for the 
purpose of granting the military privilege. Because of this 



152 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

standardization the certificates issued by one state are quite 
generally recognized by other states. This certificate gives 
the teacher the rank of an Oberlehrer, or teacher in the higher 
schools. 

The Oberlehrer. — Equipped with this certificate the Ober- 
lehrer may receive an appointment at once, or he may have 
to wait for several years, and in the meantime engage in 
whatever employment he may find that is not beneath the 
dignity of his profession. Once in a position his social, pro- 
fessional, and civil standing is fixed for life. The teachers 
belong to the culture caste. Their salaries are paid by the 
state. The state pension system grants them a pension after 
forty years of service, or at the age of sixty-five. This pension 
amounts to 75 per cent of the last year's salary, provided it 
does not exceed six thousand marks. The training of women 
teachers for the girls' secondary schools is not so well provided 
for as is that for men teachers. Since 1908 the universities 
have been open to women, and, since 19 13, women teachers 
for girls' higher schools have been required to be university 
graduates. But as yet the Seminarjahr and Probejahr have 
not been provided for them. The uniformity in the training 
of German secondary teachers is in striking contrast to the 
condition in American secondary education. America, how- 
ever, is working toward the same end, but is doing it through 
voluntary systems of standardization. 

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

The System. — The industrial schools of Germany cover 
many phases of work. Some of the schools are state insti- 
tutions, some municipal, and others are guild schools. As 
to their aim or purpose they may be classified as follows ; 



Germany 153 

(i) general trade schools, .(2) special trade schools, and (3) 
engineering and scientific schools. 

All of these schools except those of higher or university 
rank are under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for 
the purpose of giving them a commercial and industrial bias, 
rather than an academic nature. Pupils pass into these 
schools at fourteen years of age, when they complete the Volks- 
schule. 

Continuation Schools. — The general trade or continua- 
tion schools are supplementary to the practical work in shops, 
stores, and factories in which the boys and girls begin work 
after leaving school. 

Instruction. — The course of instruction given them is both 
technical and academic and is designed to make them effi- 
cient in the ordinary arts and crafts and also efficient as mem- 
bers of society. The work is done either in day, evening, 
or Sunday classes. The course consists of three or four hours 
per week and runs through a period of three years. The closest 
cooperation possible is maintained between the school and 
the shop. Schools of this type are conducted for girls as well 
as for boys. In many of the states attendance is compul- 
sory. 

Importance. — It is estimated that in such a city as Magde- 
burg, a city of nearly 300,000 inhabitants, only 8 per cent of 
the boys continue in school after their fourteenth year. This 
illustrates the importance of continuation schools. The 
other 92 per cent of the boys, as well as an equal percentage 
of the girls, need further help of a kind that is immediately 
usable and that will develop them for general citizenship. 
It is in this line of school work that Germany, France, England, 
and the United States are so actively engaged to-day. The 



154 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

keyword in Germany, to all this work, is cooperation of state, 
city, guild, and shop. 

Special Trade Schools. — The continuation schools, de- 
scribed above, are for the unskilled workman and do not take 
the place of apprenticeship. But in some trades, such as 
textile industry, metal trades, pottery, etc., special schools 
are considered necessary for the training of skilled work- 
men. It is to the graduates of these schools that Germany 
owes so much in recent years for the foremost place she 
has been able to take among the exporting nations of the 
world. 

Engineering and Scientific Schools. — A very extensive 
system of schools for the training of foremen of shops and 
constructing and supervising engineers is established through- 
out the larger cities of Prussia and other states. The higher 
schools of this group are under state control. A government 
commission conducts the final examinations and awards 
diplomas. 

Above these schools stand the technical colleges (Hoch- 
schulen) which compare with the great technical colleges 
in the American universities. The scientific research work 
in these institutions is not surpassed anywhere in the 
world. 

What this splendid system of industrial schools of all grades 
is doing for Germany is well illustrated by the fact that 
in the past fifteen years 9000 more people annually have 
migrated to Germany than have emigrated. Such a con- 
dition is a great object lesson to other countries. 

This brief sketch, at best, is only an introduction to the 
economic evolution that is going on in Germany as a result 
of her industrial schools. 



Qermany 155 

GERMAN UNIVERSITIES 

Position in the System. — All of the German universities 
are state institutions somewhat in the same sense that 
some of the public universities in the United States are 
state institutions. They are under the Minister of Educa- 
tion, and are supported largely by the state appropriations, 
though some of them have small incomes from endowments. 
The primary function of these institutions, as a part of the 
state S3'stem of education, is to prepare students for the 
state examinations that stand at the gateway to positions in 
the church, the judiciary, medicine, law, and government 
administrative service. 

Internal Control. — The professors are appointed by the 
state, and one professor from each university sits in the Upper 
House of the legislature. The internal affairs of the univer- 
sity are directed by the rector, who is chosen from the faculty, 
and a senate, which is composed of faculty members. 

The greatest freedom is granted the members of the faculty 
in the discharge of their duties, there being no regulations 
from the Minister as in the case of the lower grades of schools. 
The work is directed under the four historic departments, 
law, medicine, philosophy, and theology. 

Academic Freedom and the Church. — The church and the 
universities are both state institutions, neither one subordi- 
nate to the other. Neither the Protestant nor the Catholic 
church is pleased with the absolute academic freedom granted 
the professors in the university and particularly in the theo- 
logical departments. This condition is the cause of much 
controversy but apparently results in no modification of the 
spirit of control by the state, except in a slight willingness 



156 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

to permit the churches to have a greater voice in the selection 
of ministers, and priests, all of whom must be appointed by 
the state. Practically all of the state universities have Prot- 
estant theological departments, but not more than a third 
have Catholic theological departments. The Catholic clergy, 
for the most part, receive their training at institutions under 
episcopal control, though under the regulations of the Min- 
ister of Education which require standards equivalent to those 
in the universities. The German universities accept the 
guidance of reason only. This was the gift of the Protestant 
Reformation. Lehrfreiheit is their pride. They decHne to 
surrender it. 

The Culture Caste. — No longer does birth or wealth con- 
stitute the basis of higher German society. The German 
university of the 19th century has placed the academic 
scholar at the top of the social strata. The University takes 
the boys and girls from every walk of life and trains them 
scientifically to render service to the community as leaders 
in the administrative, industrial, commercial, and profes- 
sional pursuits. In society these university graduates con- 
stitute a culture stratum separate and distinct from all other 
social strata. In no other country is this academic distinc- 
tion so marked. Acquisition of academic citizenship means 
equality, without distinction of birth or wealth, in the higher 
German society. 

The Student and His Life. — The student in the German 
university is a unique individual in the educational world. 
Attention has been turned to him for generations, and he and 
his life have been analyzed and evaluated by many critics of 
other educational systems. He is both like and unlike the 
student elsewhere. The similarities are rooted in human 



Germany 157 

nature ; the dissimilarities are the fruitage of the ideals and 
the philosophic conceptions of the German people. 

The students' preparation for admission to the university 
is graduation from the nine-year Gymnasium, Realgymnasium, 
or Oberrealschule at the age of eighteen to twenty. Others are 
also admitted on certain professional certificates. This 
standard applies also to women and foreigners. The course 
of study, as prescribed by law, varies from three to four and 
a half years in the different faculties. The students are granted 
very wide freedom in the selection and pursuit of their studies. 
Lernfreiheit is granted the student just as Lehrfreiheit is 
granted the professor. The only real limitation placed upon 
him is the examination for which he is preparing at the close 
of his university career. 

Students' societies form a very characteristic part of the 
university life. The older or " color-wearing " societies are 
quite exclusive in their membership and they claim as their 
right, as the elite of the student body, the privilege of repre- 
senting the institution on public occasions. These societies 
have their organizations throughout all the universities just 
as the Greek letter societies have in the American universities. 

There are also less exclusive societies, Vereine or clubs, 
that have for their aim the establishment of a community life 
or the directing of some practical activity. 

The examinations represent the consummation of the 
students' efforts and aim. There are two of these. The 
academic examinations are conducted by the faculties for the 
awarding of degrees. The state examinations are conducted 
by government examiners for the admission of applicants 
to the practice of a profession. This method of selecting 
state officials in the various professions is a safeguard against 



158 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

incompetency otherwise resulting from political preferment. 
But it results in a certain disregard of the scientific pedagog- 
ical principles that should govern in instruction and also in 
driving the students to the cramming method necessary to 
such an extensive examination by a body of examiners who 
with but few exceptions are not their instructors. This 
examination system, as the sine qua non to state preferment, 
is Germany's restriction upon freedom of instruction. 

New University at Frankfort. — A new university was 
opened in 19 14 at Frankfort on the Main with an initial 
endowment of $2,000,000 and a promise of Hberal annual 
appropriations from the city. The plan and purpose of the 
founders is to make this university one of the greatest centers 
of scientific research work, especially in medical subjects, 
in the world, and a rival in every respect of the universities 
of the ancient type. One interesting local condition affecting 
the poHcy of the institution is the large percentage of finan- 
cial control held by the Jews in the city of Frankfort. The 
support of the university by this element is largely contingent 
upon their recognition in the faculties of the university. 

Recognition of American Bachelor Degree. — Since 1905 
some of the German universities, beginning with Berlin, and 
in cooperation with the association of American universities, 
have evolved a scheme for the recognition of the bachelor's 
degree, awarded by standard American universities and col- 
leges. American students holding this degree from any of the 
institutions in the approved list are allowed to matriculate 
at these German universities on an equality with the holders of 
the German Maturitats-zeugnis. The Kst includes 119 colleges 
and universities comprising the three following groups : (i) 
the members of the association of .American universities, (2) 



Germany 159 

the accepted list of the Carnegie foundation, and (3) other 
institutions of the Carnegie standard but not accepted be- 
cause of sectarian affihations. 

In 1913 there were 287 American students attending the 
German universities out of a total of 4841 foreign students 
in those institutions. About one third of these foreign stu- 
dents go to Berlin. Exchange professorships between Berlin 
and Harvard and Columbia in recent years, account in part 
for this selection of Berlin. 

Women Jn the_ Umversities. — Since 1908 young women 
have been admitteato' matriculation in the Prussian uni- 
versities, thus opening all of the leading universities of the 
Empire to women, as the institutions in the southern states 
had been open to women for many years. The enrollment 
of women at the end of five years, or in 191 3, was 3400^ which 
was an increase of more than ten fold in that short period of 
time. At present, about 5 per cent of the entire student body 
are women. The women students are distributed among the 
four faculties, but more than two thirds of them are in the 
faculty of philosophy to which they are attracted in large 
numbers for Uterature, languages, pedagogy, and other subjects 
that fit them for teaching in the secondary schools. 

This invasion of the universities by the women is one of 
the most significant movements in German education. The 
traditional prejudice of the professor has been hard to overcome. 

Distribution and Prominence. — In all Germany there are 
twenty-one universities with an enrollment of over 60,000 
students. Nine of these are in the kingdom of Prussia. The 
most famous of this group are Berlin, Munich, Leipsic, Halle, 
and Jena. These are the great centers of learning to which 
foreign students have been attracted in great numbers. These 



i6o Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

institutions have been world leaders in philosophy and science 
and have served as models in organization and spirit for the 
development of universities in other lands. America has 
learned much from these great institutional teachers. And 
many of America's greatest scholars have become such through 
the tutelage of Germany's philosophers and scientists. But 
an institution of the type of the German university is too 
far removed from the interests of the masses to prosper in the 
atmosphere of American democracy. However, as a dis- 
coverer of scientific truth for world use, the German univer- 
sity has no equal. The German university centers her work 
in the faculty of philosophy to a far greater extent than does 
the American university. This gives a unity of organiza- 
tion to all faculties and to the whole student body not 
found in American universities, or in those of France and 
England. 

RELIGIOUS AND MORAL INSTRUCTION 

In the Protestant schools of the Empire religious and moral 
instruction is given, based on the Bible, both the Old and the 
New Testament. Cathohc and Jewish children are permitted 
to withdraw from the class instruction and receive their train- 
ing from the priest or the rabbi instead. In the first two 
grades the instruction consists of moral and religious stories 
and songs taken mainly from the Bible. In the third and 
higher grades, books of the Bible stories are read by the pupils, 
and the catechism is taught. General use is also made of 
large BibHcal pictures. 

The religious instruction is under clerical supervision, and 
the teachers are required to take an oath to teach reHgion 
according to the accepted faith, or forfeit their positions. Both 



Germany i6i 

of these features — clerical supervision and the oath — are 
objectionable to the teachers and are the subjects of attempted 
remedial legislation. In Wiirttemberg, for instance, the new 
school law for 1909 provided professional supervision for the 
cities but left rural supervision under the clergy. 

The same spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction is found in 
the field of religious education as permeates other phases of 
school work. It is a struggle for readjustment of old ideals^ 
and methods to the newer conceptions of education and of 
the social rights of the individual. It is the younger genera- 
tion putting the older generation to school. It is liberalism 
versus conservatism. 

Denominationalism. — The extent to which the schools 
are denominational is a striking feature of the German school 
situation. The non-sectarian schools, Simultanschulen, figure 
but slightly in the situation so far as numbers are concerned, 
though their presence in the system is a nucleus around which 
hberal sentiment continues to grow. 

The children are separated into schools representing the 
religious faith of their parents. Religion is a constant sub- 
ject in the weekly program of all schools except the con- 
tinuation schools. A fair illustration of the church and state 
problem in the Empire is furnished by the facts from Prussia. 
In that Kingdom, of the 6,572,000 school children, 3,875,000 are 
in Protestant schools, 2,383,000 in Roman Catholic schools, 
and only 368,565 in the non-sectarian schools. In other 
words, 58 per cent of the schools are Protestant, 36 per cent 
Roman Catholic, and 6 per cent non-sectarian. 

The political parties in control of legislation differ among 
themselves as to the pohcy of church or state control of edu- 
cation all the way between the extreme poles of the possible. 



1 62 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Any radical change from the present situation is a long way 
in the future. 

The training of teachers for reUgious instruction is thorough. 
In the upper classes they are expected to be able to read the 
scriptures in the original and to be acquainted with Bible 
and church history as well as with the tenets of their own 
denominational faith. This is made possible by the con- 
tinuous Bible study through all their training in the elementary 
and normal schools. 

CRITICAL CONDITIONS IN GERMAN EDUCATION 

In the Volksschule. — The same social tendency in elemen- 
tary education is found in Germany as in France. The dual 
vertical-parallel system for the social classes in certain sec- 
tions is breaking down and the people's school is being crowded 
with all social classes and sectarian creeds. The rapid growth 
of the social democratic party is largely responsible for this 
condition. This movement toward a common elementary 
school, Einheitschule, for all classes from ages 6 to 12 if ex- 
tended would be an important step toward the solution of 
many serious evils of the present system. Especially would 
it help to correct the evils of the rigid social distinctions. 
Where the people's school is thus popularized, the classes are 
crowded, with the resultant large percentage of retardation 
and mortality in the upper grades. Even in the best organized 
schools of the largest cities of Prussia it is estimated that 
only 45 per cent of the elementary pupils ever reach the 
eighth grade. To help to remedy this condition numerous 
auxiliary classes (Hilfsklassen) are organized to aid the back- 
ward pupils. Likewise various types of continuation and 
trade schools are picking up many of these pupils and giving 



Germany 163 

them further training. These agencies all tend to draw 
pupils and teachers away from the cultural schools in the ele- 
mentary grades. 

Regarding Teachers. — Another of the many movements 
destined to break down social distinctions in Germany is the 
effort of the elementary teachers to secure the recognition of 
their course of training as equal in disciplinary value to the 
Gymnasium course which non-teachers take in preparation 
for admission to the universities. Notwithstanding the fact 
that their course of five or six years of training and two years 
of experience on probation with extensive professional reading 
parallels in time and degree of work the Gymnasium course 
the universities have not admitted them until recently even 
to special courses for teachers. 

This is a social discrimination which prevents many teachers 
from taking university courses for degrees. The teachers 
hope in time to break down this social barrier. 

The Science of Pedagogy. — The problem of the social 
recognition of the teacher is largely one involving the question 
of pedagogy as a science. At present the German univer- 
sities as a whole do not so recognize it and do not, therefore, 
provide a chair of pedagogy. This attitude seems paradoxical 
in a country so widely famed for its schools and for its science 
of everything else. The German Teachers' Associations and 
leaders in the profession are using their influence to secure 
this coveted recognition by the universities. In this respect 
Germany has long been outstripped by America, where 
practically every university and college has a chair, de- 
partment, or school of education. It is remembered of course 
that Jena and Leipsic have long been celebrated for their 
pedagogical seminaries, and in recent years Halle and Berlin 



164 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

have established similar courses in pedagogics. But none 
of these have assumed the proportions of an American school 
of education. 

In the Secondary Schools. — In recent years the position 
of the ancient and modern languages in the secondary schools 
and the general crowded condition of the program have caused 
much criticism. The result in the language situation has 
taken shape in " reform schools " in which the amount of 
language work has been reduced without depriving the grad- 
uate of any privilege granted to graduates of the normal 
types of secondary schools. So far the percentage of the 
reform schools is very small, but the leaven is working. In 
191 1 there were 184 reform schools out of a total of 1687 
secondary institutions, which was 11.5 per cent. This is 
enough to show a drift of the current away from the classics. 
A similar situation is found in the French lycees. 

In Girls' Secondary Schools. — Since 1908, when the uni- 
versities were opened to women, the problem of the course 
of study in the secondary schools for girls has eUcited much 
thought and discussion. In some of the states girls have 
been admitted to the boys' secondary schools, but in others, 
including Prussia, this is not true. In these latter states, the 
demand made by the reformers, especially by the associations 
of the women, is for a reorganized course of study in the girls' 
secondary schools that will prepare the girls for admission 
to the universities without discrimination. Germany breaks 
away from traditions, slowly, where women are involved. 

WAR AND EDUCATION 

In elementary education during the war Germany has been 
able to maintain a fair degree of equilibrium, but in secondary 



Cernmny 165 

and higher education the system has been sorely torn. The 
attendance everywhere has been reduced by the withdrawal 
of large numbers of the children for service in various fields 
of labor. It is estimated that 80 per cent of the male students 
in the technical high schools and 70 per cent of those in the 
universities have entered upon military service. The two 
main features of this situation occasioned by war are empha- 
sized here as in harmony with the purpose of this sketch 
of German education. They are, first, the devotion of the 
German nation to her schools as shown in the substantial 
increase of her educational budget in times of such financial 
stress, and second, the loyalty of her adult students to Father- 
land, in their readiness to render mihtary service. These 
two striking national characteristics are at the same time 
both cause and result of Germany's pecuHar educational 
system. It is a tragic demonstration of Kant's " two worlds," 
the world of science and the world of morals. It seems now 
that Kant's philosophy was in part a prophecy of the develop- 
ment and culmination of the pohtical world of Germany to-day. 

GERMAN INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN EDUCATION 

There is no other country to which America owes so much 
as to Germany in every grade of educational work, both as 
to organization and pedagogical theory. Yet America has 
not imitated Germany. She has adapted German educational 
philosophy and practice to American conditions. From the 
kindergarten to the university, and through the industrial 
and technical schools, this German influence is found. For 
nearly a hundred years, American students have been study- 
ing in the German universities and bringing back to this coun- 
try the best thought of those institutions. 



1 66 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

There is possibly not a college or university in America 
to-day, but what has one or more professors who have studied 
abroad under some famous German instructor. The prin- 
ciples of philosophy and pedagogy that have largely controlled 
in shaping the methods in the American normal schools and 
departments of education have had their origin in German 
thought and practice. The pedagogical Hterature of the array 
of brilHant educational writers, — Mann^ Parker, Barnard, 
Harris, De Garmo, McMurrys, Russell, and others, — has been 
a perennial source of inspiration and guidance to the teacher 
in training and to the technical expert in the administration 
of education. 

In the field of the university, Germany has shown America 
the true purpose of research for scientific truth that should 
characterize this institution. She has likewise made emphatic 
the idea that the centrum of a university must ever be the 
college of philosophy and pure science. In the training of 
teachers she has said to her students of pedagogy from abroad, 
that an extensive specialized training under a uniform standard 
is the only efficient one. As to church and state, Germany 
has stood for the union of the two with the thought that 
religion is an essential part of the education for citizenship. 
In the control of education, Germany has demonstrated her 
theory that only leaders, trained in the philosophy of the 
state, have the right of initiative in directing the education of 
the masses. Her theory of universal militarism, applied in 
recent years to the training for and the development of the 
economic and industrial life of every community, has brought 
American students back again to her schools and shops. 

Out of all of these and many other activities in the scientific 
and educational institutions of Germany, America has learned 



Germany 167 

and still is learning much. But the genius of the American 
people and the initiative of her scientific scholars and teachers 
have prevented the transplanting of German types of educa- 
tional institutions as such. For example, the German social 
caste system of elementary and secondary schools has found 
no place in American democracy. Likewise, the maintenance 
of separate schools for boys and girls and the unequal pro- 
vision for the education of girls have met with no favor in the 
American school system. Nor has the teaching of reHgion 
in the public schools, by the German plan, been deemed neces- 
sary to the maintenance of a Christian republic. 

However, in respect to the tenure of the teachers' posi- 
tion and their pensioning in old age, and in the complete co- 
operation of society and state in the educational work, 
America yet has much to learn from the Germans. And, 
in turn, Germany would profit greatly by incorporating into 
her system of administration of education somewhat of the 
spirit of individual initiative and freedom characteristic of 
the American system. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Compare the German and French school systems on the basis of 
central control. 

2. Make a drawing showing the vertical parallel systems for the 
provisions of the social castes from six to eighteen years of age. 

3. Compare compulsory attendance regulations in Germany with 
those in the United States. 

4. Show the respects in which the German elementary teacher is 
superior to the elementary teacher in England. 

5. Show how certain American ideals are antagonistic to certain 
German methods in education. 

6. Compare the method of study in the German university with 
that in Oxford. 



1 68 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

7. Regarding vocational education what lessons can the United 
States learn from Germany ? 

8. Make a list of the modern tendencies in German education during 
the past fifteen years. 

9. Show that specialization, beginning at nine years of age as it 
does in Germany, is too early. 

10. Account for the tardy provision for the higher education of women 
in Germany. 

Special Bibliography 

Bolton, Frederick E. The Secondary School System of Germany, 

igoo, Appleton and Company, New York. 
Brown, John Franklin. The Training of Teachers for Secondary 

Schools in Germany and the United States, 191 1, The MacmiUan 

Company, New York. 
Dewey, John. German Philosophy and Politics, 191 5, Henry Holt and 

Company, New York. 
Farrington, Frederick E. European Systems of Secondary Schools, 

in Monroe's Principles of Secondary Education, 1914. The Mac- 
miUan Company, New York. 
Faust, Albert Bernhardt. The German Element in the United 

States, Two Volumes, 1909, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. 
JuDD, Charles H. The Training of Teachers in England, Scotland, and 

Germany. Bulletui No. 35, 1914, U. S. Bureau of Education, 

Washington, D. C. 
Kerschensteiner, Geo. A Comparison of Public Education in Ger- 
many and in the United States, 1913, Bulletin No. 24, U. S. 

Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 
Klemm, L. R. European Schools, 1897, Appleton and Company, N. Y. 
Paulsen, Frederick. The German Universities, 1895, The MacmUlan 

Company, New York. 
Russell, James E. German Higher Schools, 1899, Longmans, Green 

and Companj', New York. 
Schiele, F. M. Education in Germany, 1914. In Monroe's Cyclopedia 

of Education, Vol. Ill, The MacmiUan Company, New York. 
Shaw, A. B. Teaching Rehgion in the Schools of Saxony, 1910, Bulletin 

No. I, U. S. Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 



SWITZERLAND 
CHAPTER V 

HISTORY 

Early Roman and Teutonic Rule. — The historic era of 
Switzerland began with the overthrow of the western Hel- 
vetii, by Caesar, in the year 55 B.C. For the following four 
hundred years she was under Roman rule, with a rapidly 
vacillating policy of union and separation of various districts. 
During the migrations of the German tribes, about 443 a.d., 
Switzerland began to pass under the control of the Teutons, 
and for a century and a half her Roman civilization merged 
into the Germanic. At a later date, Switzerland became a 
part of the great empire of Charlemagne, and, during the next 
four centuries was tossed back and forth between German 
and French rule. 

Original Swiss League. — Finally, in 1231, the German 
emperor, Henry, granted the people of Uri a charter, by which 
the freedom of the early League of Switzerland was established. 
Nine years later, Schwyz revived a similar charter. In 1291, 
or a Kttle later, these two districts, with Unterwalden, formed 
the original Swiss league, to secure their rights and privileges 
against German oppression. During the next one hundred 
years this League had grown to eight members, in their 
fight for freedom and independence. Still another hundred 
years of turmoil increased the membership to thirteen. And 

169 



lyo Modem Education in Europe and the Orient 

a century and a half later, in the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, 
Switzerland was politically separated from Germany. The 
next century and a half was given over to expansion and in- 
ternal strife. 

League changed to Confederation under French Protec- 
torate. — Then followed the French Revolution, in 1789, and 
the occupancy of the territories of the League by French 
troops. The opposition of the Swiss League was crushed 
by the French army, and this was followed, in February, 1803, 
by Napoleon's Act of Mediation, which changed Switzerland 
into a Confederation of nineteen cantons, under the protec- 
tion of France, and annexed three districts of the league to 
France. But the Congress of Vienna, in 181 5, and the second 
treaty of Paris, restored this territory to the League and Switz- 
erland, thereby, became a confederation of twenty- two cantons 
united in complete equality. From 181 5 to 1848, inter- 
cantonal disputes, concerning the constitution, and contests 
of rivalry between Protestants and Catholics, culminated 
in the civil war, known as the War of the Sonderbund. This 
war, which lasted only three weeks in November, 1847, ended 
in the defeat and impairment of the Catholic cantons, the 
expulsion of the Jesuits, the suppression of about fifty mon- 
asteries and religious foundations, and the complete victory 
of Liberalism. Thus, in September, 1848, the new constitu- 
tion of Switzerland, as a Confederation, was proclaimed and 

put in force. 

THE GOVERNMENT 

Federal and State Constitutions. — The Constitution, 
proclaimed September 12, 1848, transformed Switzerland 
into a Confederation similar to the United States. The 
individual cantons, twenty-five in number, retained their 



SwUzerhmd 171 

constitutions and their sovereignty, limited only by the fed- 
eration. A revision of the Constitution was made in 1874 
and a few minor changes have been made since. The con- 
stitution rests upon the principles of centralization regarding 
the army, the judiciary, civil and criminal law, and govern- 
ment ownership of public utilities. The constitutions of the 
Swiss cantons are in all cases democratic, though each has 
its own individualistic type of legislation and administration. 
Each canton has complete control of its school system, just 
as each state has in the United States. 

Government by the People. — Government by the people 
is more perfectly provided for in Switzerland than in any 
other country in the world. This is done by the Initiative 
and Referendum, which makes the people superior to Par- 
liament. 

PLAN OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 

Area and Density of Population. — Although one of the 
smallest states in the world, Switzerland has been able to 
hold an enviable position in every essential national respect, 
because of the complete provision for education, of both the 
cultural and practical types. Her area is only 15,976 square 
miles in comparison with 207,107 square miles in France, or 
56,025 square miles in Iowa, one of the United States. Her 
total population is 3,741,971, which is about five times as 
dense as that of Iowa. 

Federal Constitutional Provisions for Education. — There 
is no central school system in Switzerland, but the federal 
government has stimulated education in the cantons very 
materially, by such means as: (i) requiring recruit examina- 
tions in the subjects of the elementary school for military 



172 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

service, under the law of 1875, (2) granting federal aid (a) to 
commercial and agricultural education, (b) for promotion of 
arts and industrial training, (3) by making all subsidies condi- 
tioned upon at least an equal appropriation by the cantons and 
districts. For administrative purposes, Switzerland is divided 
into twenty-five cantons, the largest of which is Berne, with 
a population of 642,744. Each of these cantons is autono- 
mous, in the administration of her schools, just as is each of 
the United States. The only central control is found in the 
Constitution adopted in 1874, which requires every canton 
to provide elementary education free to all children, without 
prejudice to " freedom of faith and conscience." The same 
common aim is evident in all of the cantons to provide every 
type of education for every individual for the various walks 
of life under the Republic. An amendment to the constitu- 
tion in 1902 inaugurated federal aid to primary education, 
though under cantonal control, thus fixing deeper in the minds 
of her people the educational ideal of the republic in the 
interests of a common enlightened citizenship. The pro- 
vision for federal aid fixes a uniform rate of 60 centimes 
(12 cents) per capita of the population for each canton with an 
additional 20 centimes (4 cents) for nine cantons that have 
special difficulties in providing adequate facilities for primary 
education. The total appropriation for this purpose in 19 10 
was something over $450,000. This appropriation was used 
for all the various school purposes. Each of the 25 cantons 
formulates and adapts its system to its own local needs. The 
Swiss republic has three official languages, German, French, 
and Italian; hence, influences from France, Germany, and 
Italy are noticeable in different cantons, but everywhere 
under the mold of Swiss ideals. 



Switzerland 173 

School Supervision. — In some cantons there is a chief 
director of education, appointed by the cantonal legislature. 
In other cantons, there is a board of education appointed by 
the cantonal legislature, which directs the schools through 
an executive head. District (Bezirke) and communal school 
boards (Gemeindepflege) have charge of local affairs. In 
nearly all of the cantons there are professional inspectors in 
charge of the supervisory work of the schools. This plan will 
doubtless soon be adopted in the remaining cantons, as the 
spirit of centralization is active in Switzerland, just as it is 
in other countries of the world. 

The idea of scientific professional supervision, however, 
does not prevail to any great extent in Switzerland. Often- 
times, even in cities with a score or more of teachers, the head 
of the school is chosen yearly, by the teachers themselves, 
to serve only as presiding officer. This is characteristic of 
the spirit of democracy found everywhere in Switzerland. 

NATION.\L IDEALS INFLUENCING EDUCATION 

Ideal of Cooperation. — No other modern nation is more 
definitely characterized in her national ideals than Switzer- 
land. Her educational system is distinctly for the conserva- 
tion and development of these ideals. Her government is 
a system of cooperation, for the common good of the people, 
as the chief asset of the nation. The government owns the 
railroads, operates the telegraph lines, the telephone system, 
and the express business, in application of the principle that 
the national revenues belong to all the people and must be 
developed and utilized for the general welfare. The cantons 
have a system of mortgage banks by which a farmer may 
secure funds at four per cent, payable in forty annual install- 



174 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

ments, through which system ninety per cent of the Swiss 
farmers have become landowners. 

Ideal of Education and Responsibility. — The principle 
of the referendum is operative in both the federal and the 
cantonal legislation, thus emphasizing the right and the worth 
of the individual judgment and will, and also making a uni- 
versal school system necessary for the safeguarding of this 
privilege. Such an ideal, worked out as it is in Switzerland, 
recognizes the peculiar ability of each individual, and the 
various local needs of each community and provides for them 
through every needed phase of education. Provision is amply 
made for the poor, the defective, the orphans, the mediocre, 
the precocious, the genius, on the theory that a high general 
average is the basis of a true democracy. 

Ideal of Wealth as a Trust. — The ideal long established 
as just and right that the wealthy should pay a higher rate 
of taxation than the less wealthy, makes it easier for Switzer- 
land to obey the fiscal laws and to provide for all the people 
what some other countries would rebel against as socialistic. 
For 350 years the rich have ruled Switzerland, through a spirit 
of philanthropic interest in the masses. The last fifty years 
of this period have been under voluntary, constitutional, and 
legislative burden bearing, by the wealthy for the poor. The 
world can look to Switzerland for guidance in the solution of 
the problem of adjustment of riches and poverty. In Switzer- 
land, it is democracy, in the true sense, that controls her ruling 
people. 

Ideal of the Worth of Every Individual. — The Swiss school 
system provides the kind of education that seems best adapted 
to the ability and needs of every individual, whether he be 
the least or the most capable. This principle is applied even 



Switzerland 175 

though the education given the individual sends him from 
Switzerland into other countries of the world for employment. 

EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS 

For 1910 the statistics were as follows : — 

Population 3,741,971. Enrollment in elementary schools, 
538,286, or 14.38 per cent of the population. 

Teachers in elementary schools, men 7401, women 4781, 
total 12,182. Percentage of men teachers, 60; of women 
teachers, 40. 

Expenditures, $11,174,700 or $20.75 P^^ capita of enroll- 
ment and $2.98 per capita of population. 

The relatively high expenditures made by Switzerland for 
education is shown by comparing her $2.98 per capita of 
population with that of Germany, $2.56, and of France, $1.09 
for the same year. 

In 191 1, the total expenditure for public education was 
89,400,000 francs, or $17,880,000, distributed as to sources 
as follows : cantons, 44.1 per cent; communes, 48.2 per cent; 
and federal government, 7.7 per cent. 

These statistics from the Zurich report for 191 2 indicate 
the extent to which the schools of Switzerland are being pro- 
vided with different types of schools, and the response that 
the individuals are making to the opportunities offered them 
by the republic. In addition to the numbers given in the 
following table there are about 10,000 young men receiving 
instruction in classes maintained for army recruits. 

This liberal financial response is in harmony with the 
ideals governing the nation in her educational work. This 
is further shown in the large enrollment in the various types 
of schools. 



176 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

SCHOOLS AND ENROLLMENT 



Type of Schools 



Kindergarten 

Primary Schools 

Higher Primary 

Continuation Schools (general and vocational) 

Normal Schools 

Seminaries for girls 

Vocational Schools (Berufschulen) . . . . 

Secondary Schools (Mittel) 

Federal Polytechnic Institute 

Universities 

Total enrollment 



Number 


Enrollment 


1,159 


51,597 


4,704 


538,286 


652 


56,103 


3,417 


101,947 




3,645 




1,901 




13,067 


41 


9,615 


I 


2,436 


7 


8,671 



787,268 



The statistics show that 21.3 per cent, or more than one- 
fifth of the population, in Switzerland, are in school. 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 

Infant and Kindergarten Schools. — Infant and Kinder- 
garten schools are provided for children from four to seven 
years of age. These schools are conducted mainly in accord 
with the Froebelian principles. The course of study is not 
uniform in the different cantons. In the French-Switzerland 
districts, formal work in reading, writing, arithmetic, and other 
subjects is found to a greater extent than in German-Switzer- 
land districts. The latter are more like the American kinder- 
garten. The function of both types of these schools is to 
prepare for the primary school. 

Primary Schools. — The primary or elementary schools, 
for the compulsory school age range from a six-year to a nine- 
year course in the different cantons. The age for admission 
to the primary school is 6, 6^, or 7 years. The idea of free 



Switzerland 177 

instruction is carried in some of the cantons to the extent of 
free suppKes of all kinds needed for school work. The course 
of study does not differ materially from that found in the 
elementary schools of the United States. 

Continuation Schools. — Continuation schools begin after 
a rest period of one to two years, following the primary 
schools. These courses serve both as a review and as a means 
of emphasizing certain phases of study that have a practical 
bearing upon the industrial or business life, that the pupil 
is planning to enter. The term is usually held in the winter, 
with three to six hours per week, but there are some 
schools that run the year round. The schools differentiate 
for boys and girls. For the girls, in the rural districts, short 
courses in household arts are given. 

Compulsory Attendance. — The federal constitution re- 
quires all cantons to provide free elementary education for 
all children. This obligation is met in all of the cantons by 
a compulsory school law. The period covered by the com- 
pulsory school law ranges in the different cantons from six to 
nine years. The school year also ranges from 38 to 44 weeks. 
In seventeen of the cantons attendance upon all of these types 
of schools is compulsory. Thus, about 19 per cent of the total 
population of the state is under the compulsory school attend- 
ance. It is this that has reduced illiteracy to practically 
nothing in Switzerland. For more than eighty years Switzer- 
land has had some form of compulsory school law and the law 
is almost universally enforced. 

The School Day and Year. — The school day in Switzer- 
land is not so strenuous as it is in America. In the winter, 
the morning hours are eight to twelve, and the afternoon 
hours, from two to four. In the summer, the hours are seven 



178 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

to eleven and two to four, with a three-hour noon intermission. 
Both teachers and pupils are free from restraint during the 
long noon intermission. The week is further broken by two 
afternoon rest periods, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The 
school year begins in April or May, just after a Spring vaca- 
tion of three weeks. In July there is a summer vacation of 
four weeks, and in September there is another two weeks' rest, 
and this is followed by the Christmas vacation. In addition, 
there are many afternoons off in June and August, whenever 
the temperature runs so high as eighty degrees at noon. 

Interesting Features in the Course of Study. — The school 
system of Switzerland is of particular interest to an American 
student because of its striking similarity to that in the United 
States, and because Switzerland was the home and field of 
labor of Pestalozzi who has been so highly honored in America. 
Some features of the Swiss school system are interesting in 
comparison with the conditions in the American system. For 
instance, in Switzerland, Latin, Greek, and algebra are found 
only in the boys' secondary schools. These subjects are not 
considered of value to girls and are therefore displaced in the 
girls' schools by sewing, mending, knitting, darning, em- 
broidery, etc. But, to both boys and girls, the living languages 
are taught, especially French, English, and German, in the 
primary as well as in the secondary school. This course in 
modern languages in the secondary schools for the girls of 
the wealthier class, is supplemented with a year or more in 
some boarding school. 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

Place in the System. — In Switzerland, the secondary 
school is based on the first four grades of the primary school 



Switzerland 179 

and maintains a course of study that prepares for the uni- 
versity. But, unlike France and Germany, Switzerland 
recognizes no social distinctions in her primary and secondary 
schools. Instead of having two parallel systems for two 
distinct social classes, as those two countries have, Switzer- 
land arranges the program of studies so that pupils may trans- 
fer from the primary schools to the secondary schools at the 
age of 10 or 12 years, without confusion in their work. 

Types of Secondary Schools. — The secondary schools are 
of two types, (i) the lower, or sekundarschule, and the higher, 
or mittel und herufsschulen (higher middle and technical 
schools). The first of these, the sekundarschule, parallels 
the four or five higher grades of the primary school, and 
often adds one or more years to the course. The curriculum 
includes the subjects of the primary school and algebra, 
sciences, and one or two modern languages. The teachers 
in these schools are better trained than in the primary school, 
the work is departmentalized, and the equipment is more 
elaborate. The students in these schools seldom plan to enter 
the university but generally enter commercial hfe, govern- 
ment service, or the cantonal technical schools, or, in the case 
of the girls, they enter teachers' seminaries, which are at- 
tached to the secondary schools. In some of the cities there 
are separate secondary schools for the boys and girls. 

The middle schools consist of various types, such as the 
gymnasium, realschule, college, teacher-training schools, 
high schools for girls, lycees, and technical and commercial 
schools. In general, the middle school is an institution that 
begins at the fourth year of the primary school, and offers four 
years of preparatory work and then bifurcates into three 
courses, (i) a four-and-a-half -year scientific course, (2) a four- 



i8o Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

year commercial course, and (3) a four-and-a-half -year literary 
course. The completion of these courses and the passing 
of a state examination admits the students to the universities 
or to the federal polytechnical school. 

In addition to the cultural subjects in these higher middle 
schools several of the courses place stress upon the vocational 
subjects. 

Recognition of Degrees of Ability. — The special merit 
of this coordination and overlapping of the upper grades of 
the primary school and the lower and higher types of secondary 
schools lies in the provision for the different grades of abiUty 
in the pupils and for their different needs. The transition 
from the primary school to each of the secondary schools 
occurs when the pupil is from ten to twelve years of age. 
Thus, at this age, the student has three distinct courses open 
to him for the continuance of his education. And later on 
in the courses other bifurcations occur that lead the students 
through specialized courses of training for all the different 
walks of Ufe. There are no social distinctions and the small 
fees that are generally charged are not sufficient to deprive 
the ambitious of the privileges of the school. 

Enrollment in Secondary Schools. — In 1910, there were 
41 secondary schools (mittel) with an enrollment of 9615 
students. This type of school includes gymnasia, lycees, 
and higher schools for girls, drawing their students largely 
from the professional and higher official circles. The second- 
ary technical schools prepare students for foremen and leaders 
in industries. The enrollment in these technical secondary 
courses was 13,067. There were also a number of seminaries 
for girls with an enrollment of 1901 secondary students. This 
shows a total enrollment of 24,583 students, or an equiva- 



Switzerland i8i 

lent of one to every one hundred and fifty-two inhabitants 
pursuing studies of a secondary rank. 

Purpose of Continuation Schools. — The continuation 
schools of secondary grade number 3417 with an enrollment 
of 101,947. There are two purposes for which these schools 
are maintained ; one type completes the elementary subjects 
of the primary school, the other gives vocational training. 
The course of instruction is these schools is generally arranged 
for two years, during the winter, with six periods per week. 
It is through the splendid work of these types of schools that 
Switzerland has been enabled to compete successfully with 
her neighbors in the industrial world. Most of these schools 
give instruction in but one trade, though some have a poly- 
technic character. Although they are local, in character 
and support, yet their national importance is recognized by 
federal grants, conditioned upon the local contributions and 
used to prevent the multipHcation of feeble schools. 

The Swiss technical schools are considered preeminent to 
the schools of Austria and Germany in respect to the local 
adaptation and the correlation of civic, ethical, and technical 
training. Great stress is being placed in recent years upon 
civic education, as an imperative obligation for every class of 
schools. 

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION 

For Training Teachers and Commercial Leaders. — At 

the head of a complete system of commercial education, 
stand six superior commercial schools, as departments in 
the Universities of Freiburg, Neuenburg, and Zurich, and the 
commercial high schools of St. Gall, Berne, and Lausanne. 
These schools are subsidized by the federal government, 



i82 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

receiving from that source $16,055, i^ 191 2, out of a total 
expenditure of $55,095. Students are trained in these schools 
for positions as teachers and commercial leaders. In 191 2, 
there were 413 students of which 397 were male and 16 female. 
The contributions of the federal government may amount 
to one half as much as the local authorities appropriate, pro- 
vided it does not result in a diminution of the sums paid 
locally. A second type of commercial schools, those of 
secondary rank, number 35 (1912) with 2737 male, and 
1670 female students, for which the government grant was 
$105,438. 

Training Federal Employees and Tradesmen. — There 
are four " administration commercial schools " that prepare 
young men and women for the federal posts, telegraph, tele- 
phone, and customs service. These schools had 329 male 
and 5 female students in 191 2, and received $9987 in govern- 
ment grants. Finally, there are mercantile secondary 
schools, of which 80 are under the " Swiss Commercial Union," 
and 40 under associations or districts. These schools are 
chiefly for the purpose of educating young tradesmen. They 
are distributed throughout all the cities and towns of Switzer- 
land. Students enter these schools, usually, at the age of 
fourteen. The course of study is from one to four years. 
The longer course includes several modern languages as well 
as the commercial subjects. In 1909 the laws giving federal 
aid to commercial schools were revised so that not only 
schools having three-year courses but those with one- or two- 
year courses would be entitled to such aid. And, since 191 2, 
the Department of Commerce has been issuing a federal di- 
ploma to graduates of commercial high schools maintaining 
a certain prescribed course of study. 



Switzerland 183 

AGRICULTUR.\L EDUCATION 

Federal Policy Regarding Agricultural Education. — It is 

the policy of Switzerland to provide as carefully for agricul- 
tural education as she does for other industrial types. It is 
estimated that 41.3 per cent of the total population are en- 
gaged in agriculture. In eastern Switzerland, alone, there 
are nine agricultural schools in successful operation. Four 
cantons have agricultural schools with theoretical and prac- 
tical courses for the training of young people to enter agri- 
cultural pursuits. There are also a large number of courses 
offered during the winter months, and, in addition, many 
traveling lecture courses for adults who are employed in 
farming. 

These schools are for men only, although the policy of ad- 
mitting women has been seriously considered. There are 
two school terms per year, the winter term, from November 
I to March 31, with thirty-five hours per week, and the 
summer term, covering the remainder of the year, broken 
only by the usual vacations. The course of instruction is 
very comprehensive. It includes German, mathematics, 
surveying, planimetry, drawing, zoology, physics, chemistry, 
geography, civics, and agricultural sciences, both theoretical 
and practical. The practical side of the work is emphasized 
by sending the students on visiting and inspecting tours to 
farms and dairies, or to assist and advise farmers and dairy 
owners, regarding improvement of the soil, planting and 
rotation of crops, improvement in the care and culture of 
animals. 

Scientific Training of Teachers of Agriculture. — The 
federal government maintains an agricultural department 



184 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

in the Polytechnic school at Zurich for the training of experts 
in principles of agriculture and the kindred sciences. This 
institution is one of the best in the world for technical train- 
ing. Many of these graduates are employed to teach in the 
cantonal agricultural schools, and in the secondary schools 
throughout the kingdom. The influence of the scientific 
work in agriculture in these schools is felt even in the primary 
schools, especially in the rural districts, where elementary 
agriculture is quite generally taught. 

TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

Standard for Admission to the Profession. — In 1909, 
there were 34 public normal schools and normal departments 
with 2716 students, 13 private normals with 849 students, 
preparing teachers for the elementary and secondary 
schools. The apphcant for a teacher's certificate must 
be 18 years old, of good character, and must pass an 
official examination. This is the standard in every canton. 
These teachers are generally graduates of training schools, 
but, as in other countries, school boards are obliged to employ 
many teachers below the approved standard. There is no 
fixed standard for the qualification of the teachers in the 
secondary schools, though many of them are university 
graduates, as a result of tradition and of the high standard 
set for the graduation examinations for secondary students. 
In this particular, Switzerland is behind France and Germany, 
but there is promise that she will correct this defect at an 
early day. 

Spirit and Influence of the Teacher. — Everywhere, the 
Swiss teacher, in the elementary school, is under the benign 
influence of Father Pestalozzi whose picture hangs on the 



Switzerland 185 

wall of every schoolroom. His ideal of love for children is 
the first qualification of the Swiss teacher. 

The practice of promoting the teacher with her class, for 
two or three years, and then returning her to the lower grade 
to come up with another class, is common in Switzerland, in 
recognition of the thought that a teacher, in that way, can 
educate the child and not merely instruct him. The teacher 
does her work largely through oral instruction and with but 
little or no assignment for home work, thus making the day 
at school complete in itself, and causing no " mental estrange- 
ment between teacher and pupil." 

Term of Office and Salary. — The tenure of office is long, 
in some cantons, for life, thus enabling the teacher to become 
an intimate and vital member of the community. 

The salaries range from $150 and a home and garden to an 
average of $650 and from that to $750, with the provision in 
many cantons for a sick fund and a pension. The pension 
is provided jointly by the general government, the canton, 
and the teacher. The canton bears the larger part of the 
pension burden. 

Three-fourths of the teachers are men and these 
have engaged in the profession as a life work in contrast 
to the stepping-stone policy, so common in the United 
States. 

Teacher Seminary Course. — Teachers for the primary 
schools must be graduates of a teachers' seminary or must 
have completed a gymnasium course and two or more semes- 
ters at the university with special work in pedagogy and 
practice teaching. The teachers' seminary course is about 
the equivalent of the junior and senior years of a high school 
course combined with two years of a normal college course, 



1 86 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

in the United States, with one fourteenth of the time given 
to history of education, psychology, and general and special 
methods. The following is a typical seminary course : 
pedagogy and method, lo hours ; German, French, or 
Italian, 34 hours; history and geography, 17 hours; 
mathematics, 20 hours ; natural science, 18 hours ; singing 
and violin or piano, 18 hours; penmanship, 3 hours; draw- 
ing, 12 hours; gymnasium, 8 hours; religion, 4 hours; total, 
144 hours. 

The Swiss teacher is especially trained in music and does 
excellent work as a teacher of this subject in school. 

Church Seminary and Training of Teachers. — The Church 
Seminary is also an important factor in the training of teachers 
for the elementary schools of Switzerland. There are many 
institutions of this type, and their graduates are sought after, 
especially for the rural districts. The religious influence of 
these schools in the training of teachers is highly appreciated. 
This feature in Swiss education is very similar to that found 
in the United States, where, in some states, such as Iowa, at 
least one- third of all the teachers are trained in the education 
departments of the private denominational schools. These 
seminaries have an enrollment of only about 100 students 
in each. The practice teaching in these seminaries is con- 
ducted in attached practice schools. 

Pedagogical Departments in the Girls' High Schools. — 
For the training of women teachers, there are pedagogical 
departments in connection with girls' secondary schools, or 
recently in separate buildings, and also various forms of 
special continuation schools for women. This provision is 
much like the senior year of normal work in the American 
high school. 



Switzerland 187 

Teachers in Secondary Schools. — In the secondary schools 
and the gymnasia, there is no fixed standard of quahfication 
for teachers. The teacher in the secondary school usually 
has had two or more semesters in the university and has 
passed a special examination. The teachers in the gymnasia 
and other types of middle schools, such as girls' high schools 
and teachers' seminaries, are usually university graduates 
with some pedagogical training. 

Election of Teachers. — After securing a certificate a teacher 
usually serves a year or so as a substitute before securing a 
regular position. 

Election of teachers by popular vote is a unique feature in 
Swiss educational practice. The local board may appoint 
the teacher for one year, then, upon nomination by the board, 
the voters elect, for a period that ranges from three years to 
life. The practice varies in the different cantons. This 
is another illustration of the exercise of the spirit of democ- 
racy in Switzerland. 

UNIVERSITIES AND POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE 

The educational system of Switzerland culminates in the 
work of seven cantonal universities and a federal poly- 
technic institute. The universities are located at Basel, 
Ziirich, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne, Freiburg, Neuchatel, and 
the polytechnic institute at Zurich. The largest of these 
institutions is the university at Zurich with 1740 students 
and an annual budget of 1,125,644 francs or $225,128. 

Polytechnic Institute. — The polytechnic institute, in 1910, 
had 133 1 students, including both men and women, in all 
types of higher technical courses. This institution is the only 
higher scholastic institution under the direct supervision 



i88 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

of the federal authorities. It is controlled by the " Swiss 
School Board," of seven members and a secretary, elected 
for a term of five years. This board fixes the course of study, 
employs the faculty, and grants diplomas and degrees through 
the various departmental faculties. This institution has the 
reputation of being one of the greatest technical schools in 
the world. 

The Universities. — Each university, excepting Freiburg 
and Neuchatel, which have no medical faculty, has the four 
faculties of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. They 
are organized after the German plan. The universities are 
attended by about 10,000 students of whom about 4000 are 
from foreign countries. About one tenth of the enrollment 
are women. It is very apparent that ten universities are too 
many for a state so small as Switzerland. She has a univer- 
sity for every 375,000 people. This situation makes it next 
to impossible to establish a national university, as was Con- 
templated in the constitution. The small cantonal univer- 
sity is free, however, from the criticism usually made upon 
the very large universities found in other countries. 

COMPULSORY EDUCATION FOR APPRENTICES 

Double System. — Switzerland has a decidedly character- 
istic system of training apprentices for the various trades. 
Some features of this system are suggestive to countries, like 
America, that do not have an apprenticeship system. 

The system in Switzerland is a double one. One branch 
is maintained by the cooperation of the Swiss Union of Arts 
and Trades, the National Department of Industries, and the 
cantonal and communal labor organizations. The other 
branch is maintained by the cities themselves, independent 



Switzerland 189 

financially of the guilds. But, for both types, federal aid 
is granted very hberally. 

Plan of Work. — The relationship between the apprentice 
and the master-workman is regulated, in most of the cantons, 
by cantonal laws. These laws define the contract and specify 
the hours of work in the shop, the quality and extent of the 
technical training, and the hours to be spent in the trade 
continuation schools. The work is supervised by the officials 
of the canton, commune, and the guilds. The course is from 
one to four years and is completed by passing an examination 
under a special committee. 

The teaching staff in the shops consists of the masterwork- 
men, and, in the continuation schools, of the regular elemen- 
tary teachers and the technical teachers for vocational instruc- 
tion. 

Under the second branch of the system, the city owns the 
shops. The pupils desiring to learn a trade make a contract 
with the city, instead of with a masterworkman. These 
shops are better equipped than most of the guild shops. In 
the large cities, such as Berne and Zurich, this method of 
training apprentices has become the prevailing one. Ziirich, 
for instance, is training for more than forty trades, at a cost 
of more than $150,000 yearly. In this canton of Zurich, the 
law imposes compulsory attendance for all industrial and 
commercial apprentices, both boys and girls. The applicant 
for admission must possess an elementary education and 
must be fourteen or fifteen years of age. This standard is 
quite general throughout the cantons. 

The merits of this system of training for the trades, in which 
such a large percentage of citizens earn their living and upon 
the products of which the nation subsists, are too apparent 



igo Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

to need discussion. The schools of the future will provide 
this type of training as well as training for leadership in the 
professions. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

Religious Instruction in the Schools. — In every type of 
school, in the regular system, religion is taught from one hour 
to three hours per week. The work consists of stories from 
the Bible, for the lower grades, and a carefully graded course 
of Bible study from both the Old and the New Testaments, 
for the primary schools, the secondary schools, the gymnasia, 
the teachers' seminaries, and the extension courses. And in 
each of the universities there is a faculty of theology for the 
training of religious leaders. The church schools, as has been 
emphasized elsewhere, train a large percentage of the teachers 
under their rehgious influences. 

Church Distribution of Population. — Of the 3,765,000 
inhabitants of Switzerland in 1910, 2,108,590 were Protestants, 
1,590,792 were Catholics, 19,023 Jews, and 46,597 belonged 
to other confessions or to none. Owing to the fact that 
the countries adjacent to Switzerland are all Catholic, the 
migration from those countries is helping to increase the per- 
centage of Catholic communicants in Switzerland. In some 
of the cantons, the population are practically all Roman 
CathoHc, and in others almost wholly Protestant. With 
the exception of the Moravians and two Lutheran parishes 
in Geneva, all the Protestants of Switzerland belong to the 
Evangelical Reform Church. The great majority of these 
belong to the " National Churches," of which there are fifteen, 
that are organized according to the various cantonal regula- 
tions. In Geneva, in 1907, the National Protestant Church 
was disestablished by an amendment to the Constitution which 



Switzerland 191 

went into effect January i, 1909. In its reorganization it 
retained the title of National, though separated officially 
from the state. The doctrine of the new church confines 
itself to the acknowledgment of " Jesus Christ, the Savior 
of Men," and makes its creed broad enough to admit all 
Protestants to membership, though retaining its fellowship 
with the Reformed Protestant Churches. 

Cantonal Support of Church. — Although there is in Switz- 
erland complete Hberty of conscience and creed, no bishopric 
can be created on Swiss territory, without the approval of 
the Confederation, nor can the order of Jesuits be received 
in any part of Switzerland. Each canton has its own district 
church organization and receives grants from the cantonal 
treasury, the larger part going to CathoHcs in cantons where 
they predominate or to Protestants where they are in majority. 
No one is compelled to pay a tax to a church to which he 
does not belong. 

Separation of Church and State Probable. — But the idea 
of separation of church and state has been prominent in 
Geneva for many years, as various Protestant sects and the 
branch of the Roman Catholic Church from which the National 
Catholic Church split on account of the doctrine of infallibility, 
have maintained independent churches without state aid. 
Sentiment and support come from all branches of both Prot- 
estants and CathoHcs as well as from non-church people for 
the disestablishment. All adherents of the new regime 
beUeve that separation will permit the church to increase its 
activity and usefulness and at the same time remain national, 
Christian, and devoted to the highest welfare of the nation. 
This problem still remains unsolved in other countries as well 
as in Switzerland. 



192 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Write a thesis on the relation of education to popular government. 

2. Summarize the similarities between the Swiss school system and 
the school system in the United States. 

3. Write a thesis on the influence of Pestalozzi upon education. 

4. Compare the school enrollment and the cost of education in Switz- 
erland with that in your own state. 

5. Summarize the special provisions for the education of girls in 
Switzerland. 

6. Write on the economic and social advantages of cooperation in 
education, as operative in Switzerland. 

7. Account for the high development of the spirit of democracy in 
Switzerland. 

8. Point out German and French influences in Swiss education. 

9. What features of the Swiss system of compulsory education for 
apprentices could be applied in American education ? 

10. Write on the merits of the Swiss system of secondary schools. 

Special Bibliography 

Church and State in Geneva, Outlook, November, 1907. 

DoDD. Modern Constitutions, 1908, Vol. I, Switzerland, University of 
Chicago Press. 

Education in Switzerland, Special Phases, United States Commissioner 
of Education Reports from 1890 to 191 5, Washington, D.C. 

New National Protestant Church in Geneva, Outlook, Vol. 94. 

Smith, Annie Toli^ian. Education in Switzerland, Monroe's Cyclo- 
pedia of Education, Vol. V, 1913, Macmillan, N. Y. 

Swiss and their Politics, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. II. 

Swiss as Teachers of Democracy, Review of Reviews, Vol. 47. 

Switzerland. Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV. 

Tate, William Knox. Suggestive Features of the Swiss School System. 

United States Bulletin, 1913, No. 56, Washington, D.C. 

Wetter, A. A. School System of Switzerland, Education 28, 1908, 
Boston. 

Women and Democracy in Switzerland, Atlantic, Vol. no. 



HOLLAND 
CHAPTER VI 

THE GOVERNMENT 

Separate Nation. — In the European revolutions of 1830 
Belgium withdrew from the Kingdom of the Netherlands 
and left Holland a separate kingdom. The constitution 
adopted by the joint kingdom in 181 5, after the Congress of 
Vienna, was retained as the fundamental law of Holland with 
several modifications until it reached its present form in 1887. 
The present government is a constitutional, hereditary mon- 
archy. 

The Crown and Ministry. — The sovereign ruler, either 
king or queen, is assisted by a Council of State and a Council 
of Ministers. The sovereign must advise with the Council 
of State on all administrative matters. The Council of Min- 
isters, which is composed of the heads of the nine departments 
of the government, is responsible for the royal acts. Both 
bodies are appointed by the sovereign and are therefore 
amenable to the crown. The sovereign has unusual pow- 
ers, but the integrity of the nation is safeguarded by law. 

The States-General or Legislative Power. — The States- 
General, or Legislature, has two chambers. The upper house 
is chosen by the provincial assemblies from the heaviest 
payers of direct national taxes or from the holders, past or 
present, of principal public offices. The lower house is 
o 193 



194 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

chosen by popular vote from citizens above thirty years of 
age who possess property. 

Suffrage is extended to male citizens over twenty-five years 
of age on a combined property, wage, education basis, with 
a strong tendency in recent years towards woman suffrage. 

The lower house practically controls all legislation, the 
upper house having so little power that it is regarded as the 
weakest, constitutionally, in all Europe. 

The Judiciary. — The Constitution provides for a high 
court (supreme court) and the laws have created certain 
minor courts. The crown appoints all judicial officers. No 
provision is made in Holland for trial by jury, as is guaran- 
teed to every American citizen. 

Local Government. — Loca,l government in Holland is 
administered through eleven provinces and 1123 communes. 
Each of these units has its own legislative and executive 
departments, the members of which are chosen locally, 
though ultimately responsible to the crown. 

Geography and Population. — The area of continental 
Holland is about 13,000 square miles and the area of her 
colonial possessions is approximately 785,000 square miles. 
The density of her colonial population is 466 to the square 
mile, the total population being 5,898,429. The density 
is very great in comparison with that of such a country as 
France, which is 191 to the square mile. The colonial pos- 
sessions have a population of 40,000,000, which is one third 
of the total population of the United States, and just about 
equal to the population of the colonial possessions of France. 
The colonial possessions comprise two main groups of islands, 
the East and West Indies. 

Her colonial population is one of the least illiterate in the 



Holland 195 

world, though surpassed by her neighbors, the Scandinavian 
countries. In 191 2, the illiteracy in Holland was .8 per cent 
in comparison with .5 per cent in Denmark and Sweden. 
Of the total continental population 59.5 per cent is rural, and 
this percentage is on the increase. 

ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 

Elementary Education. — The school law of 1857 placed 
the administration of elementary education under the Minis- 
ter of the Interior, giving him the assistance of supervisory 
inspectors in the provinces and communes. The several 
modifications that have been made in this law up to the 
present time have been for the purpose of strengthening this 
system of administration. There are at present three gen- 
eral inspectors, twenty-five district, and ninety-four sub-dis- 
trict inspectors, and about three hundred communal com- 
mittees, all of whom are appointed by the sovereign and 
receive their pay from the state. 

In addition, each commune, or two or more communes in 
consolidation, has a school board that is in charge of the local 
schools, but is responsible directly to the burgomaster (mayor) 
and council of the commune who is charged with the main- 
tenance of the school. 

It is thus apparent that the administration of elementary 
education is strongly centralized, much more so than in any 
single state system in the United States. 

Secondary Schools. — For the administration of secondary 
education of all types, including general, vocational, and 
technical, the Minister of the Interior has the assistance of 
three general inspectors. The local control of secondary 
education is through committees appointed by the communal 



196 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

councils. The principle of local initiative under state con- 
trol is applied everywhere. One merit of this system of con- 
trol lies in the ability it gives the state to fix the number and 
location of the secondary schools in accord with local needs 
and state economy. 

Higher Education. — The Minister of the Interior has 
supervisory control of all institutions of higher learning, 
both public and private. Under the head of public institu- 
tions are included the gymnasia, Latin Schools, three state 
universities, and the communal University of Amsterdam. 
These public institutions are maintained either by the com- 
munes or the state, or by the two jointly. The private 
institutions are the denominational seminaries and other 
proprietary or endowed institutions. All private institu- 
tions are subordinate to the state universities in the sense 
that the universities grant all the degrees. 

An observer of this system of centralization of control in 
higher education will readily infer that there is no pro- 
mulgation of ideas in the universities of Holland at 
variance with the ideals of the government. In America 
these matters are left to the control of local boards of trustees 
and often result in embarrassing complications upon the 
removal of objectionable propagandists. However, the prin- 
ciple of academic freedom can be respected or abused by either 
local or state control. Nevertheless too much state uniform- 
ity means too little individual initiative. Even the professors 
in the universities are appointed by the crown subject to 
dismissal by the Minister of the Interior. It must be admitted, 
however, that Holland has a system that works quite smoothly 
and that gives an education that is fairly well adapted to 
every type of ability and social need. 



H^olland^ 197 

The Normal Schools. — Ever since 1857, the state has 
maintained two normal schools, and subsequent laws have 
provided for normal schools and classes by the communes 
and private corporations, by a system of state aid under 
state supervision and prescribed entrance and graduation 
examinations. 

Control of Religious Education. — The state controls all 
religious education so far as it relates to the public schools 
and the teachers in those schools. The regular teachers 
are forbidden to teach religion, but the school buildings are 
open to the preachers and special religious teachers. The 
main function of the state in this regard is to see that religious 
toleration is enforced. Only non-sectarian religion is allowed 
in the schools even by the religious teachers. This prin- 
ciple is doubtless violated in districts where practically all 
people belong to one faith. In other localities the law is 
strictly enforced. 

Students in normal schools are required to attend religious 
classes and the church of their choice. But no further reli- 
gious test is made of them. 

Private schools are free to direct their own religious in- 
struction. 

Support of Education. — In general terms, education in 
the public schools of Holland is paid for by state subsidies, 
students' fees, local tax, and endowments. The state pays 
30 per cent for instruction, and 25 per cent for the school 
buildings. Only the state, not the commune, makes appro- 
priations to private schools. All schools receiving state aid 
are regarded as public schools. During the compulsory school 
age, all fees must be remitted for pupils not able to pay them. 
The communes are required to charge a fee of all who are 



198 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

able to pay so as not to place private schools at a disadvantage. 
This was a compromise for the purpose of keeping peace 
between the church and the state. State subsidies are dis- 
tributed on the basis of the number of teachers and pupils 
in the schools, and the teaching of the prescribed subjects. 
This provision makes compulsory education possible and 
practicable. 

Holland has a most simple method of distributing state 
aid, and it works smoothly. It is free from such complica- 
tions as were found in England in the days of " payment by 
results." The system has eliminated religious strife far 
more than has the English system. It also attaches a much 
higher value to private initiative in education than does the 
system in the United States. 

However, the question of state toleration versus state 
encouragement of non-sectarian education is an open one in 
America as it is in other countries and will have to be dealt 
with in the generations immediately ahead of us. 

Regarding the fees, the commune must charge not less than 
20 cents per month and may charge as much as the school- 
ing costs if parents are able to pay as much. This flexible 
fee within a single school is a unique feature, but is adminis- 
tered with equity. 

Private schools receiving the 30 per cent of expenses for 
maintaining school instruction do not receive aid for the erec- 
tion and equipment of buildings. Private schools run for 
pecuniary profit receive no state aid. 

In 1899, approximately 69 per cent of the school attendance 
was in public schools and 31 per cent in private schools. In 
1910 these percentages had changed to 62 and 38 for the ele- 
mentary schools, showing thus a slight increase in private 



Holland 199 

schools. This is due to the fact that parents can send their 
children to the school of their choice without difference in ex- 
pense under the equitable plan of distribution of grants be- 
tween state and church schools. 

HOLLAND'S COLONML POLICY 

Education in Netherlands-India. — Holland has attracted 
much favorable attention in recent years by her new policy 
of education in colonial possessions, Netherlands-India. In 
this new policy is a marked change from the ancient policy 
of commercial exploitation to one of political and intellectual 
advancement of the native peoples themselves. 

In this regard there are many elements of similarity be- 
tween Holland's colonial educational work and that of the 
United States in the Philippines, Alaska, and Porto Rico. 
The Holland colonial empire of 40,000,000 dependent peoples 
is one of the greatest of the kind in the world. Three fourths 
or 30,000,000 of these people are on the single island of Java, 
the richest of all islands. 

Plan of Government. — The administration of this popu- 
lous empire is by a Governor-General appointed by the crown. 
He appoints Dutch ofhcials over all native rulers who are 
also appointed by him. This scheme of government is one 
of the most strongly centralized forms possible, but it is di- 
rected toward the better welfare of the people who seem to 
appreciate its purpose to such an extent that few rebellions 
occur. 

Non-Native Colonists. — Java is a beautiful and attractive 
place to live. The result is that many people from Europe 
and Asia make their homes there and amass fortunes in 
commercial enterprises. 



2QO Modern Education in Europe and tlie Orient 

Large numbers of Dutch, Arabs, and Chinese are found 
there. The Arabs with their Mohammedan faith have 
created a troublesome rehgious problem, and the Chinese 
by inter-marriage with Malay women are producing a social 
problem for the future to solve. These are illustrations of 
the complexity of the civilization that Holland must educate 
her colonial peoples to live in and serve. It would seem 
that nothing but the true spirit of Christian altruism would 
keep a nation strong and persistent at this work. 

The Malayan peoples themselves represent a multiplicity 
of branches, each with its language and customs with degrees 
of culture ranging from barbarism to the highest Christian 
civilization. The language of practically all of this array of 
peoples is Malay, but each distinct people also has its own 
dialect. 

Education of Dutch Officials. — For service in the adminis- 
tration department in the colonies, Holland requires the 
most thorough training for her officials, just as England and 
France require for theirs. The applicants for the " Great 
Functionary's Examinations," which constitute the gateway 
of passage to colonial service, must be graduates of a Dutch 
gymnasium, or higher burgher school, with special technical 
training for this particular examination. These special 
subjects are, Malay and Javanese languages, Indian geog- 
raphy, anthropology, the colonial resources, industries, laws, 
administrative systems, economic conditions, penal courts, 
and customs of Netherlands-India. To guard against officials 
who would yield to corrupting influences, Holland fixes the 
standards for the civil service examinations high, pays the 
employes well, and provides for them wholesome associations 
that tend to preserve their moral character. The govern- 



Holland 2or 

ment endeavors to inspire these officials with a spirit of devo- 
tion to the interests of the natives and to spend their Hves in 
this service as a profession. In this particular, Holland has 
become a teacher of nations. 

Paternal Policy. — It has been more than three hundred 
years since Dutch administration was begun in Netherlands- 
India. These three centuries have been checkered ones, 
from exploitation to paternal care. Since 1870 the present 
policy has been developing. During these forty-five years 
Holland has turned back all economic profits to the further 
development of the resources and the general welfare of the 
natives. The pride of the Dutch official is to make the home 
of the native Javanese a home of plenty, contentment, and 
health, and the land an attractive one for the native and 
foreigner. 

Christianity Ruling Mohammedanism. — The religious 
education situation in Netherlands-India is a most interest- 
ing one. Fewer than six million Christian Dutch through 
a small retinue of colonial officials are ruling forty million 
Malay subjects, nearly all of whom are devout followers of 
Mohammed. Christianity has put Mohammedanism to 
school. The result is a great unrest as the followers of the 
Arabian prophet see the superiority of Christian civilization. 
Will further enlightenment of this people perpetuate the 
rule of the Christian overlord or will the Mohammedans 
finally rule? 

Dutch Weapon Is Education. — The sympathetic spirit 
of the enlightened Dutch rule is manifested in schools of 
all kinds for native officials, teachers, directors, judges, and 
artisans. Holland has organized a complete system of lower 
and higher schools in rural villages and larger cities, somewhat 



202 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

after the plan of education in the Philippines by the United 
States government. 

Two kinds of public schools are necessary, one similar to 
the Dutch system, for European colonists and Dutch ofificials, 
the other for natives. Both schools are open to the natives. 
The schools of the European type keep the children of these 
settlers at home during the period of their education, a much 
better policy than that of the British government in their 
colonial possessions. 

A perplexing phase of the education problem is that of the 
700,000 Chinese and mixed Chinese population. The Dutch 
law forbids these people becoming native citizens as do 
the Chinese born in the Philippines under the laws of the 
United States. The Dutch are beginning to see that their 
policy is an unwise one. Hence, since 1908, the govern- 
ment has assumed the responsibility for the education of the 
Chinese through the same system of schools maintained for 
the natives and European residents. In all of these schools 
the Dutch language is required in accord with the same policy 
pursued by other governments with their colonial schools. 
For the rural population, who dwell in about 30,000 small 
villages, a system of schools offering a three- or four-year 
course is being developed as rapidly as conditions will permit 
to give an elementary education to every one. 

For the training of teachers for these schools, the govern- 
ment maintains six normal schools, with a six-year course 
above a six-year elementary course required for admission. 
In addition, the government has brought from Holland more 
than a thousand teachers and is adding two hundred and 
fifty to this number annually. The government aids private 
as well as public schools. Since 1900 the government has 



Holland 203 

permitted freedom of religious instruction in subsidized 
schools which has led to a rapid increase of Protestant and 
Catholic schools. About 80,000 out of 190,000 pupils in the 
lower native schools are in these private institutions. The 
amount spent by the government on colonial education now 
approaches two millions of dollars. 

Provision for industrial education for the natives has not 
yet been made. In this respect Holland is behind some other 
countries. 

TYPES OF DUTCH SCHOOLS 

Infant Schools. — The infant school is not a part of the 
state system and receives therefore no part of the state aid 
to education. The only exception to this is in the care of the 
college for the training of kindergarten teachers at Leyden to 
which the state gives 35,000 florins ($14,070) annually. The 
government does not even grant a certificate to teachers in 
the infant schools. These schools, where found, are supported 
by private societies and municipal authorities. In the larger 
cities, such as Leyden, Amsterdam, and Utrecht, the infant 
schools are quite well developed. The plan and method 
of work is of the Froebelian kindergarten type. Special em- 
phasis is placed upon school gardens and nature study. In 
localities having no schools of this type the children enter the 
regular primary school at five years of age in the country and 
at six years of age in the cities. The tendency is towards 
the recognition of the infant school as a part of the primary 
school system. The factor that stands in the way is the 
compulsory school age, seven to thirteen. When this mini- 
mum age is lowered, as it doubtless will be soon, the infant 
school will become a part of the regular system as it is in 
other countries. 



204 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

In 1911-12, of the 170,185 pupils in infant schools, 18 per 
cent were in public (state aided) and 82 per cent in private 
institutions. 

The same general situation pertains in the United 
States where the compulsory school age begins at six, 
and the kindergarten is not included in the public school 
system. 

Primary Schools. — The primary school is provided for 
the child from the beginning of the seventh year to the begin- 
ning of the thirteenth year of its age. This gives every child 
six years of schooling. Provision is made for a child to with- 
draw from school to work after the tenth year if the reasons 
for such action are substantial. This apparently is not abused 
as the average attendance is above 95 per cent. 

The course of study as fixed by the law of 1889 is still in 
effect, with some recent modifications. The subjects are 
classed as obligatory and optional. The required subjects 
are the same as required elsewhere for an elementary educa- 
tion. There are ten of these subjects. The noticeable 
feature is " needlework for girls," required by Holland so 
many years ahead of some other countries. Of the nine op- 
tional subjects, French, English, German, and general his- 
tory give the primary curriculum a high-school tone quite 
questionable. But each commune is required to provide 
these subjects where a sufficient number of pupils desire 
them as special training for entrance to higher schools. 
Communes that have intermediate schools do not offer these 
optional subjects in the training schools. 

The law requires the local school officials to maintain pri- 
mary schools for all children of school age not provided for 
by private societies. In 1911-12, 60 per cent of the enroll- 



Holland 205 

ment in the primary schools was in public and 40 per cent in 
private institutions. 

It is interesting to note that the law requires the primary 
school to be kept open the whole year, except hohdays. The 
holidays, however, amount to ten weeks and may be, in fact 
quite generally are, grouped in the summer months. 

There are many advocates of this all-year policy in the 
United States. A better method would seem to be special 
classes during the summer months for those interested, or a 
three- or four-term session per year with vacations inter- 
vening. All-the-year-round school attendance is very try- 
ing on teacher, pupil, and home. The private schools re- 
ceiving state aid are closely regulated by the government 
as to qualifications of teachers, course of study, and equip- 
ment. No private school is allowed to receive aid from the 
commune. This provision doubtless prevents local rivalry 
among religious denominations to control the local funds. 
The church opposition to compulsory attendance since' the 
passage of the law in 1900 has practically ceased, owing to 
the provision in the law recognizing attendance at church 
schools as satisfying the conditions of the law. 

Both public and private primary schools are under the 
inspection of the staff inspectors of the Minister of the In- 
terior, and also of the local commissions approved by the 
communal councils. Each of the twenty-five district in- 
spectors resides in his own district, convenient to his work, 
at the least expense to the government. The twenty-five 
districts are divided into ninety-six arrondissements in which 
ninety-four local inspectors supervise the schools. 

Regarding the district inspectors, the larger states, in the 
United States, might get suggestions for the improvement 



2o6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

of their state inspection service. Where the entire inspection 
staff resides at the capital too much time and money is spent 
in covering the state and the inspectors are too slightly 
acquainted with many locaHties. The scheme in Holland 
is free from this objection. 

The completion of the primary school at the end of the 
twelfth year, two years earlier than the completion of the 
American elementary school, is in harmony with the modern 
ideas for the reorganization of elementary and secondary edu- 
cation in America. 

Continuation Schools. — Evening and continuation classes 
are also maintained for elementary pupils. The evening 
pupils are also day-school pupils and so for this reason these 
schools are gradually being eliminated from the system. The 
continuation schools are for those pupils who have completed 
the primary school and are not attending a higher school. 
The law of 1900 requires this school to be open 96 hours in 
the year. The school is generally open six months in the 
winter for pupils twelve to sixteen years of age. 

Here again is offered the suggestion to the states having 
many localities without high schools, to give to the boys and 
girls who cannot leave home to attend a neighboring high 
school, further education at home, in short, continuation 
schools. 

The curriculum in the Dutch continuation schools may 
continue some of the subjects of the primary curriculum and 
may introduce other general or vocational subjects. This 
is an excellent type of school for rural districts and it may be 
extended in its scope to include adults. 

In 1 910 there were over forty-six thousand students en- 
rolled in these schools. It is noticeable that 86 per cent of 



Holland ' 207 

these students were in public schools. The reason for this 
is very apparent. The state, with its taxing power, is much 
more free to meet newly recognized social needs than is the 
church. 

Intermediate Schools. Burgher Schools. — Burgher schools 
were organized under the law of 1863 which applied to all 
communes of 10,000 population or over. These schools were 
designed for the training of artisans and laborers. Both 
day and evening classes were to be maintained. The law is 
still in force, but the day schools have practically disappeared, 
as the communes prefer to establish higher burgher schools 
with a longer course of study than the two or three years 
provided for the lower burgher schools. The evening schools, 
however, continue in many communes. They correspond 
somewhat to the continuation classes in the rural districts 
described above in so far as they are for children from twelve 
to fourteen years of age. Both of these types of schools 
exist in recognition of the gap that yawns between the pri- 
mary and the secondary schools. This period of the life of the 
boys and the girls seems to be the most difficult one for all 
the nations to provide for satisfactorily. In this regard 
Holland is simply having experience that is universal. 

Higher Burgher Schools. — The same law that established 
burgher schools provided for three-year and five-year higher 
burgher schools at the option of communes of 10,000 popula- 
tion or over. A subsequent provision demands not fewer than 
twelve such schools in Holland, five of which must have 
five-year courses. As a matter of fact there are more than 
eighty of these schools, about one third of which are state, 
two thirds communal, and a small remnant private institu- 
tions, with a total of something like 15,000 students. About 



2o8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

one fifth of this enrollment are girls, and in addition to this, 
there are fifteen or more girls' secondary schools with enough 
more students to raise the total to approximately four thou- 
sand girls in secondary education. 

The course of study follows the six-year primary school 
and differs in no material respect from the curriculum in the 
American high school, except that it offers no Latin. The 
graduates receive a diploma which has great value, as it is 
required as a qualification for engineers, architects, and tech- 
nologists, who seek appointment to state service, and for 
those who desire to enter certain other departments of civil 
service. This diploma also admits to the universities, 
though with a special examination in Latin and Greek for 
those who desire to study theology, law, or literary courses. 

The leaving examinations are uniform and are under direc- 
tion of the inspectors. This school is thought to lack the 
strong central character that the German gymnasium has 
and to resemble more nearly the Realschule, and it is more 
practical than the English high school. From the American 
point of view it is a greatly overcrowded curriculum with a 
congestion of modern languages and mathematics. 

It is an interesting fact that the state does not concern 
itself with the establishment of separate schools for girls. 
These schools are provided by the communes and private 
societies. The boys' schools are open to girls by special per- 
mit from the Minister. The lack of state aid to girls' schools 
is not due to prejudice on the part of the state but to the 
generosity of the communes in the pride that they manifest 
in recent years in all phases of secondary education for their 
girls. With the exception of needlework this type of school 
furnishes no vocational work for the girls. 



Holland 209 

Elementary and Secondary School Statistics. — The Minis- 
ter of Education reported for the year 1911-12 the following 
statistics for the elementary and secondary schools : — 

Infant Schools 

Public 31,416 

Private 138,769 

Elementary Schools 

Public 566,867 

Private 365,887 

Middle Schools I5>i53 

Industrial Schools 36,803 

Navigation Schools 913 

Secondary, Classical 471 

Totals 1,156,279 

This enrollment is approximately 20 per cent of the total 
population, which is about the same as in other leading coun- 
tries that have compulsory school systems. 

The government spends annually about $14,250,000 and 
the communes $8,000,000 for education. This is about 
$3.50 per capita of population. The fees and endowments 
increase this about 50 per cent. 

It is interesting to note that in 191 1 over 38 per cent of the 
pupils were enrolled in denominational schools. 

Higher Education. Meaning of the Term. — By the law 
of 1876 higher education in Holland is defined to be that 
given in the public and private gymnasia, the Athenaeum 
at Amsterdam, and the three universities, Leiden, Utrecht, 
and Groningen. The Athenaeum in 1877 was converted 
into the Municipal University of Amsterdam, as it is now 
known. Several modifications have been made to this law, 
but the original purpose and policy remains the same. 



2IO Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The broad principle of liberty in higher education permits 
both private and denominational as well as communal and 
state higher institutions of learning. The state reserves 
the right to supervise all higher institutions and to recognize 
no degree granting power except by the state universities. 
This last feature might be a wise poHcy for individual states 
in other countries where too much freedom now exists in the 
granting of degrees that are everywhere discounted by stand- 
ard institutions. 

The Gymnasia. — The Dutch gymnasia, in terms of 
American standards, is not a higher institution but merely 
a college preparatory school, paralleling the higher burgher 
schools described above. They admit pupils at twelve years 
of age to a six years' course, preparatory to the universities. 
The only vital difference between this course and the course 
in the higher burgher school is the presence of Greek and 
Latin and the additional sixth year. Many people think 
these two characteristics are not sufficient to justify the con- 
tinuance of the two as separate institutions. The gymnasia, 
however, preserves to Dutch civiUzation the customs and 
ideals of the old Latin preparatory school which the classical 
few still think worth while. 

The law requires every town with a population of 20,000 
to provide a gymnasium and permits smaller towns to do so. 
In 1910, there were thirty public and thirty-one private gym- 
nasia for both men and women. The state paid in that year 
28 per cent of the expenses of the pubHc institutions. In 
several of the richer cities all of the expenses are paid by 
the communes. 

The course of study is the same for all in the first four years 
and then bifurcates in the fifth and sixth years into two 



Holland 



211 



divisions, one leading to the university in theology, law, and 
philosophy, the other to medicine, mathematics, physics. 
The private gymnasia have a more flexible curriculum and 
some of them include religious courses. Some other private 
gymnasia are " boarding schools " and very much resemble 
the " English public schools." As a type, however, in their 
curricula, they are more like the Prussian gymnasia and the 
American classical high school. The emphasis placed upon 
Latin and Greek gives to the gymnasia what the Dutch term 
a definite '* centrum " of study that makes it a stronger 
course than that of the higher burgher schools. But in 
recent years this " centrum " has been somewhat weakened 
by the demand in the Netherlands that a well-educated per- 
son shall be proficient in the modern languages, French, 
German, and English. 

The Dutch Universities. — The universities of Holland 
are national institutions indeed, sufficient in every respect 
for her sons and daughters. Dutch students do not frequent 
other world centers of learning, nor do students from other 
countries go in numbers to the Dutch universities. The 
Dutch language is not a world language, which accounts 
for the inappreciable mingHng of the world scholars with 
the Dutch. Nevertheless, these institutions have made an 
enviable contribution to world knowledge. In philosophy, 
language, and science, and in the promulgation of the Protes- 
tant faith, Leiden, alone, gives the Dutch universities rank 
among the great continental universities. Americans will 
ever appreciate Leiden as the home for eleven years of the 
Pilgrims before they came to America. Lovers of freedom 
and enlightenment, the Dutch citizens of Leiden, over three 
hundred and fifty years ago, chose a university in preference 



212 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

to freedom from taxes, when offered their choice by William 
of Orange. It is the sons and daughters of such people that 
fill the four universities of Holland to-day to train for leader- 
ship in the greatest nation of its size in the world. 

Holland has three state universities and a municipal 
university at Amsterdam. Each of the three state uni- 
versities, Leiden, Utrecht, and Groningen, has faculties of 
law, medicine, theology, science, and mathematics, and 
philosophy and literature. The control of these institutions 
is by a college of curators appointed by the crown. The 
crown also appoints the professors. But great freedom is 
extended to the universities in their academic work. The 
departments of medicine, law, and theology are the most 
prominent ones in student enrollment, as these lead to the 
controlHng positions in society and government. The curric- 
ulum in the university is an overcrowded one just as that 
is in the preparatory gymnasia. The result is the Dutch 
university student studies more than he thinks. A much 
larger percentage of them remain through college to gradua- 
tion than is true of the American college students. The per- 
centages are 80 to 50 in favor of the Dutch, 

The Municipal University at Amsterdam is under the joint 
control of the crown and the Municipal Council who together 
appoint the curators and the professors. 

An interesting feature in the Dutch universities is the 
freedom given to the different religious denominations. In 
Leiden the Dutch Reformed Church and the Remonstrant 
Fraternity each supports a department of theology ; in Am- 
sterdam the Calvinists, Lutherans, Baptists, and Catholics, 
each has its chair of rehgion. From these departments of 
theology in the state universities and from denominational 



Holland 213 

seminaries, colleges, and universities, the clergy of the vari- 
ous faiths are drawn. 

At the age of seventy the professors in all of these state 
universities are retired upon a pension amounting to one half 
of their salary provided that this amount does not exceed $1 206 
per annum. They may retire at sixty-five. This is a further 
evidence of the fact that the little Kingdom of Holland honors 
education second to no other country of the world. The sal- 
ary and pension are small. The reward of the teacher for the 
development of citizens is everywhere destined to be spiritual 
rather than financial. 

Enrollment in Universities. — For the year 191 2-13 the 
enrollment in the universities of Holland was as follows : — 
Leiden, 1211 students; Utrecht, 1096; Groningen, 579; the 
Municipal University at Amsterdam, 1215 students. The 
total, 4101 students, with those enrolled in the private in- 
stitutions of semi-university rank, is very creditable to the 
nation. 

University of Commerce at Rotterdam. — In 1913 there 
was opened at Rotterdam a University of Commerce under 
private ownership and endowment and with government 
approval. This was the first institution of the kind to be 
opened in Holland, and it is therefore regarded as marking 
a new era in the training of commercial leaders. The plan 
is to make the work of full university rank, leading in time 
to a doctorate in commercial science from the government. 
The initial enrollment was 55 students. 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

Origin. — Technical schools of many different types exist 
in Holland. The higher burgher schools described above 



214 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

as a part of the state secondary school system, have a techni- 
cal bias in many localities, especially in their evening classes. 
All other forms of technical institutions owe their origin 
to local and private initiative, though they are supervised 
by a special inspector and in some cases aided by the govern- 
ment. 

Trade Schools (Ausfachts-Scholen). — The earliest of the 
technical institutions now prominent in Dutch education 
were the trade schools, founded first at Amsterdam in 1861. 
The government recognized these schools by granting aid 
to them in 1891 and by placing them under a special inspector 
in 1899. They immediately became very popular and now 
exert more influence in securing state aid than do the regular 
secondary schools. The trade school naturally incurred 
some opposition from the artisans who saw it displacing the 
apprenticeship system to which they were so long accustomed, 
just as has been true in other countries. But now the grad- 
uates of these schools are eagerly sought after by the em- 
ployers in arts and crafts. 

Graduation from the primary school is required for admis- 
sion to the technical schools. The course covers three years 
and is devoted to technical subjects with a view to particular 
industries. Prominent types of these trade schools are found 
at Amsterdam, Arnhem, and the Hague. 

This specialized training for the boys from twelve to fifteen 
years of age as is given in Holland, has not been provided 
for American boys except slightly in the many-purpose high 
school, and the occasional technical high school. 

In this respect Holland has a lesson for some other coun- 
tries. An esprit de corps for any vocation cannot be best 
developed in an atmosphere foreign to its main purpose. 



Hollatid 215 

Specialization in service means specialization in training. 
The immediate value of this kind of education always makes 
it easy to secure assistance in its maintenance by straight 
gifts or increased taxation from the masters of industries. 

Industrial Schools for Girls (Industrie Scholen voor Meia- 
jes). — The industrial schools for girls have practically the 
same origin as those for boys and the same relation also to the 
general system of education. The standards are about the 
same for admission and graduation. The purpose of the curric- 
ulum is to give the girls a practical training for homework 
and the care of the home as a housewife. One aim is to pre- 
vent the girls from becoming prejudiced against household 
duties, as is so generally true of the girls educated in the con- 
ventional secondary schools. One of the results of these 
schools is the absence of the domestic problem in the Dutch 
home that is so embarrassing in the American home. America 
is crowding her department stores and offices with girls many 
of whom disdain the work of the home. 

Special training schools for the preparation of teachers 
for the girls' industrial schools are located at Amsterdam, the 
Hague, and other cities. 

A very high type of housewifery school or school of domes- 
tic science is located at Amsterdam. It is under government 
supervision but is maintained by private endowment and 
fees. Standard courses in all household arts and sciences are 
offered for the training of teachers and leaders in schools, hos- 
pitals, homes, and army and navy service, and commercial 
pursuits. Many other schools of this kind and for the training 
of women for social work exist throughout the state. Holland 
has cause to be proud of the training she is giving her young 
women for the vocations that belong properly to their sex. 



2i6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Schools of Commerce (Handelsscholen). — Schools corre- 
sponding to the many private business colleges scattered 
throughout the United States are not found in Holland. In 
Holland the communes and commercial associations con- 
duct schools for this purpose, and special classes are often 
added also to the higher burgher schools, just as commercial 
training is given in many American high schools. The chief 
industrial school in Netherlands in which commercial train- 
ing of a high order is given is maintained by the municipality 
of Enschede. Here advanced courses are given for the train- 
ing of commercial leaders in the manufacturing and govern- 
ment service. The most recent and most advanced step in 
commercial training in Holland was the establishment in 
1 9 13 of the University of Commerce at Rotterdam as de- 
scribed above in the treatment of universities. 

The schools and colleges of commerce in the American 
universities parallel this kind of work being done in the 
higher technical schools of Holland. 

Polytechnic Schools (Polytechnische Scholen). — At the 
head of all technical education in civil, mechanical, and mining 
engineering, architectural and naval construction, stands the 
institution at Delft. This school, unlike the other technical 
institutions, is supported and controlled wholly by the state. 

Graduation from the higher burgher school, or the equiva- 
lent, is required for admission. The course is four years 
and leads to a degree. Both men and women are admitted. 
The graduates readily secure positions of prominence in 
technical leadership. The enrollment runs over a thousand 
annually. The graduates, desiring positions in the East 
Indies, take two or three years more training in the Scho-^^l 
for Officials at Leiden. 



Holland 217 

The faculty is appointed by the crown and the examina- 
tions for degrees are conducted by the Minister of the Interior. 
This thorough training for leadership under government 
direction is a striking characteristic of Holland's educational 
system. 

Agricultural Education (Landbouw Onderwijs). — The agri- 
cultural education is administered by one of the departments 
of the Ministry of the Interior, assisted by a special council 
of agriculture, composed of members elected by the various 
agricultural societies throughout the kingdom. In each of 
the eleven provinces there is a state professor of agriculture 
whose duties are to inspect and direct the five state experi- 
ment stations and to prepare courses for the training of pri- 
mary teachers who must have agricultural certificates. Several 
of the provinces have agricultural schools and some have 
agronomic stations. 

At the head of the system of agricultural education is the 
widely known College at W ageningen . This school is or- 
ganized in four departments, (i) A higher burgher school, 
offering a four years' course to boys from twelve to eighteen 
years of age. The main subjects in the course are the sciences 
that underlie a special agricultural education, such as botany, 
physics, biology, chemistry. The graduates of this course 
enter the higher agricultural schools. (2) An intermediate 
agricultural school with a two years' course for pupils above 
seventeen. Some of these students plan to go to the Dutch 
Indies, and these are required to take an additional year's 
work in special colonial agriculture. (3) The horticultural 
school with a two-year and a four-year course for practical 
and scientific gardeners. (4) The higher school of agriculture 
and forestry for both home and colonial service. This is 



2i8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

* 

one of the best agricultural colleges in the world and has 
given Holland a wide reputation in such education. 

For local work among farmers and gardeners Holland has a 
system of Winter Schools of Agriculture and Horticulture. 
These schools are open from October to March, the season of 
the year when the farmers are freest to attend. The course 
lasts two years. They are open to boys and men who have 
finished the primary school and have some knowledge of 
practical farming. Stationed at each of the agricultural 
schools is a professor of physics, of chemistry, and of veterinary 
surgery for service in the locality. The instruction in the 
courses is both theoretical and practical. The classes meet 
from two to six p.m., five days per week, for the five winter 
months. 

This work is vastly superior to short courses of three days 
or a week at collegiate centers or at some poorly-equipped 
county center with an itinerant faculty, as is common in 
some other countries. The work in Holland, however, lacks 
the broad national purpose of the people's high schools in 
rural Denmark. 

Itinerary Classes for Rural Industrial Education. — Fol- 
lowing the example of Ireland and Germany regarding rural 
education, Holland has recently established itinerary classes 
in industrial education for women in rural districts. The 
subjects include the elementary sciences of botany, zoology, 
and household and home duties that devolve upon women. 
Special emphasis is placed upon the relation of these subjects 
to rural life with a view to making women more efficient and 
more contented. 

The thoroughness and completeness of Holland's system 
of agricultural education has its prototype in the splendid 



Holland 219 

agricultural colleges and experiment stations in the United 
States. The latter is necessarily on the larger scale, but it 
has not yet reached the degree of local efficiency and economic 
administration as has the Dutch system. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

Holland has always been comparatively peaceful in regard 
to her religious education problem. It is true, however, that 
the problem is ever present, for the Dutch are religious and 
have their Dissenters, or Calvinists, and their Liberals, just 
as England and Scotland have always had. The Liberals 
have stood for a neutral state school and the Calvinists, aided 
in recent years by the Catholics, have as assiduously fought 
for a free denominational state-aided school. 

Liberalism, with Catholic aid, won at first and the neutral 
state school was assigned the task of " teaching Christian 
virtues without hurting the feelings of the Jews." Then 
the common ties between Calvinists and Catholics proved 
stronger than the differences, and thus united they reversed 
the program of the Liberals and extended state aid to public 
and denominational schools, under state supervision, per- 
mitting the denominational schools to teach the religion of 
their faith. The distribution of state aid on the basis of 
the number of pupils enrolled and without any discrimina- 
tion whatever, as to standards and state supervision, permits 
every parent to send his child to the church school if he so 
prefers. The further requirement, won by the church people, 
that every state school must charge a fee of at least twenty 
cents per month for each pupil, to balance the fees that church 
schools must charge, prevents parents from choosing free 
education without religious instruction, in preference to 



220 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

education in their church schools. In other words, Holland's 
school law does not offer free education in state schools 
to turn her children away from denominationalism and reli- 
gious education. On the other hand, she has a compulsory- 
school law and enforces it alike in both state and private 
schools. Education is free only to those who need it so. 
About 25 per cent are educated free in the elementary schools. 

This Dutch policy in religious education is one of the fairest, 
if not the most fair, and the most efficient on the European 
continent. It guarantees education to all, it permits re- 
ligious instruction in one's own faith, it gives state aid on 
an equal basis, it makes education free where needed, it 
stimulates church activity instead of deadening it. In Hol- 
land it works well. What it would do in other countries is a 
question. 

The broad spirit of the government is further shown by 
the fact that the state, through communal rates, pays in 
part the salaries and grants pensions to the clergy of all 
denominations alike. This is a constitutional provision and 
is practically a settled policy. A wise provision forbids the 
wearing of any church garb outside of a church. Another 
demands a civil marriage before the church service. These 
are simply checks and balances by which the present religious 
education system has become established. This policy 
leaves an individual as free to choose his religion as to choose 
his vocation and with the same aid from the state. If some 
country could develop a system of education in which reh- 
gious education could be fostered by the state, with the same 
freedom as vocational and professional education is fostered, 
other countries would be glad to adopt it. Holland is moving 
in this direction. 



Holland 221 

Church Census. — (i) The old state church, prior to 
1795, is represented now by the Reformed Church, which 
passes as the orthodox or Calvinistic Church. It has more 
members than all other Protestant churches combined. 

(2) The Modern Church, or the Netherlands Protestant 
League, is essentially a city church. It had its origin in 
1850, in the attempt to harmonize the old religious tenets 
with modern science. In doctrine they are Unitarians. 

(3) The Independent Church is the aggressive branch of 
the Moderns, embracing both politics and religion in their 
program. They uphold the Bible as an unalterable canon. 
They have a membership of about 500,000, with a center of 
influence in the University of Amsterdam. 

(4) The Lutherans are represented by two branches, {a) 
the Evangelical and {h) the Moderns, with about 100,000 
followers. 

(5) The Menonites are known as Baptists, or Quakers. 
They have about 65,000 followers. 

(6) The Remonstrants, or social reformers, have about 
28,000 members. 

(7) The Walloon Church, or the French Reformed Protes- 
tant Church, has 10,000 members. 

These seven Protestant sects all dwell together without 
much strife, but possibly with too much religious lethargy to 
suit critics of more impulsive peoples. 

(8) The Catholic Church, divided into two branches, has 
about two fifths of the population in her membership, over 
2,000,000. 

(9) The Jews, divided like the Protestants and Catholics 
into several sects, have a total of over 100,000 members. 

(10) The self-confessed atheists number about 300,000. 



222 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 
The summary of the church census is as follows : — 

Protestants 3,334,48? 

Catholics 2,053,021 

Jews 100,000 

Atheists 300,000 

Total 5,787,508 

For all churches the communes, as stated above, levy a 
local rate for the payment, in part, of salaries and pensions 
of the clergy and for the support of the churches. 

Whether or not Holland's religious education program 
would work in other countries, it seems true that in no other 
European country is one so free to choose his own religion 
and his own educational institution as in Holland, so far as 
state toleration and aid is concerned. 

The religious instruction in the schools is not by the regu- 
lar teachers, but by the ministers and special religious teach- 
ers. Nothing offensive to any sect is allowed and no other 
subject is interfered with by the religious lessons. 

THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

Types of Training Schools. — The school law of 1857 ^^^ 
subsequent laws have established normal schools and classes 
by the state, the commune, and by private parties, under 
the same general plan of cooperation that prevails in other 
departments of education. State control of the normal 
schools and classes is through the appointment by the 
crown of all head directors and teachers, the approval of the 
courses of study, and by other regulations necessary to 
state aid. The 64 normal schools in 19 10 were distributed 
as follows : — 



Holland 223 

State and Communal . Schools 10 : Students 870 

Denominational Schools 49 : Students 2,762 

Others Schools 5: Students 2,308 

Total Schools 64 : Students 5,940 

The large percentage being trained in denominational 
schools is very noticeable. It fairly well represents the policy 
of cooperation in the Dutch system of education. 

Separate schools exist in some instances for the sexes, day 
schools for men and boarding schools for women. 

Of the 219 normal classes, 90 were state and communal, 
and 129 private and denominational. They had 6642 stu- 
dents, divided in the ratio of about 55 to 48 between public 
and private institutions. 

Course of Study. — Students are admitted to the normal 
schools at the ages of 14 or 15, and in no case over 20. An 
entrance examination in the subjects of the primary school 
and a medical examination are required of all applicants. 
The course of study is four years in length and includes all 
of the subjects of the primary school, the theory and practice 
of teaching, and special instruction in violin, piano, and voice. 
Efficiency in the modern languages, French, German and Eng- 
lish, is required. Attendance upon religious instruction and 
the church of one's choice is also required. This is distinctly 
a specialized program for the training of elementary school 
teachers. Such subjects as agriculture, horticulture, gar- 
dening, woodwork, and sewing, give the course a note of the 
vocation tone. The practice school attached to each normal 
school provides well for the practical training of the teacher. 
This practice school is a full grade six-year primary school 
and is maintained entirely by the state. 

Aid to the Students. — The state supplies free books, 



224 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

free tuition, and in some cases grants a subsidy to pay a part 
of the room and board for students whose parents do not live 
near the school. 

Teachers' Examinations. — Teachers in both private and 
public schools have to be examined for certificates. Pro- 
motion from one grade to another necessitates a new exam- 
ination. This rigid system of examinations of both teach- 
ers and pupils is one of the characteristics of Holland's system 
of education. Even foreigners expected to teach the modern 
languages are examined by a Dutch board in the language 
they are to teach. 

Head teachers have to pass a more difficult examination 
than do the ordinary teachers. And special teachers have 
examinations in their special subjects. One gets the impres- 
sion from a study of the Dutch system that efficiency means 
ability to pass an examination. 

Secondary Teachers. — Teachers in the middle, or second- 
ary schools are required to hold either a diploma from a 
university or a certificate from a state examining board. 
All secondary teachers must receive their commission from 
the Minister of the Interior before they can be appointed 
by the local officials. 

Salaries and Pensions. — The salaries of the Dutch teach- 
ers are small. They range from $200 to $300 for ordinary 
teachers and run as high as $500 for head teachers, in the 
primary schools. The head teacher is generally provided 
also with a free house and a garden. The director of a higher 
burgher school may receive as much as $1500. 

All teachers, both the elementary and the secondary, receive 
a pension upon retiring at sixty-five, or sooner, through ill- 
health. The fund is provided by the retention of 2 per cent of 



Holland 225 

the teacher's salary by the state. The pensions range from 
two fifths to two thirds of the salaries. The method of pro- 
viding the fund makes the teacher pay himself the pension, 
and the amount is small, but it is a wise provision and is in 
the direction of something better. It is an application of 
the spirit of cooperation that is everywhere apparent in the 
Dutch system of education. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Compare the position of private schools in relation to the state 
system in Holland with that of private schools in the United States. 

2. Compare the Gary, Indiana, plan of religious instruction with the 
plan of religious instruction in Holland. 

3. Take the low degree of illiteracy in continental Holland as a basis 
and compare it with that in France, Germany, England, and the United 
States, and account for the showing of each country. 

4. What lessons might the United States learn from Holland's 
colonial education policy ? 

5. Discuss the provision for rural adult education. 

6. Take the pension system of Holland as a basis and compare it 
with that of France and England. 

7. Compare the University of Leiden with Copenhagen. 

8. Show why the Hague is chosen as the center of so many inter- 
national interests. 

9. What important Dutch influences are recognizable in American 
education ? 

10. Compare the Dutch gymnasia with the German gymnasia. 

Special Bibliography 

Balfour, R. Primary Education in the Netherlands, in English Board 
of Education Special Reports, Vol. VH, 1902, London. 

Barrows, D. P. Education in the NetherlandsTndia : Secretary^ of 
Public Instruction, Philippines. Ninth Annual Report, Washing- 
ton, 1912. 
Q 



226 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Baulger, D. C. Holland of the Dutch, Scribners, 1913, New York. 

Medd, John C. A Short Account of Education in the Netherlands, 
in English Board of Education, Special Reports, Vol. VIII, Supple- 
ment, 1902, London. 

Smith, Anna T. Education in Netherlands-India: Commissioner of 
Education, Vol. I, 191 1, Washington. 



DENMARK 
CHAPTER VII 

INTRODUCTION 

Geography and Population. — Denmark consists of the 
northern portion of the Cimbrian peninsula and a group of 
islands lying between the North and the Baltic seas. Its 
main divisions are Jutland, Zealand, the island of Bornholm, 
and the Faroe islands. The colonies belonging to Denmark 
are Iceland, Greenland, and the West Indian islands of St. 
Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. The area of Denmark 
proper is about 15,582 square miles. Her population in 191 1 
was approximately 2,800,000, making a density of 180 to the 
square mile. These figures are interesting in comparison 
with similar ones for Minnesota, one of the United States. 
Her population is 2,213,319, area 84,682 square miles, density 
of population 25 to the square mile. 

The climate is very mild, the mean temperature being about 
60 degrees in the summer and 32 degrees in the winter. 

History and Government. — PHny, in the first century, 
A.D., gives the earliest account of Denmark, though the 
Sagas give myths and traditions of much earlier ages. The 
Danish kings of the fifth century a.d. may be regarded as 
historical, but not until the beginning of the ninth century can 
Danish history be considered authentic. At this time we 

227 



228 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

find a united Danish kingdom. Then followed nine and a 
half centuries of struggle, with wars without and revolutions 
within, from which she emerged in the wars of 1864 with her 
present boundaries, and her present constitution, as revised 
July 28, 1866, from the first draft of June 5, 1849. Her 
government is a constitutional, hereditary monarchy. The 
king is the chief executive, and he acts through a council of 
nine Ministers, one of whom is the Minister of Church and 
Education. This places the Danish Minister of Education on 
an equality with the heads of other departments. 

The long struggle to hold the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, 
and the final loss of that territory, through the aggression of 
Austria-Prussia, was a significant turning point in the national 
consciousness of the Danish people. The peace of Vienna, 
October 30, 1864, freed Denmark to develop a national 
spirit and her own internal resources. Her great accomplish- 
ments in these fifty years are proof of the value of independ- 
ence to a nation of moral and intellectual ideals. She has 
carried her democracy to the extent of equal suffrage to women, 
which was granted them by the New Constitution, June 

5, 1914- 

She has turned to her schools, as the means by which the 
national development was to be accomplished. 

Industries. — About three fourths of the land area is produc- 
tive to agricultural pursuits and about 40 per cent of the people 
are engaged in agricultural work. This is a high percentage, 
and even this is increasing as a result of the kind of education 
Denmark is giving her rural people. The manufacturing 
industries are concerned chiefly with furniture, foods, clothing, 
and metals. The Land Law compels the parceling out of the 
large estates into small ones, and the highly developed system 



Denmark 229 

of cooperation gives from the state and the farmers' associa- 
tions all needed assistance to the small owners. It is esti- 
mated that 61 per cent of the population is rural and that about 
93 per cent of the Danish farmers own their land. During 
the last few years, as a result of the improvement of rural life, 
the hitherto drift of the rural population to the cities has 
been turned back to the country. This is a problem for 
which other countries, such as the United States, are seeking 
a solution. 

The Danish People. — The Danes are a Teutonic race, 
with the characteristic blue eyes, yellow hair, and middle 
stature, showing evidences of kinship to the Scandinavians 
of the North. They are intensely national in spirit, and are 
controlled by a wholesome patriotism. These are partial 
rewards for her long years of struggle for independent national 
existence. 

The language represents one of the three divisions of the 
Norse tongue, the Danish dialect. This dialect, after the 
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, became organized and 
developed into the hterary language of the present Danish 
people. It has been much modified by the German, especially 
by the Low German speech, through the commercial and 
industrial relations with these people. The eighteenth and 
nineteenth centuries have been marked with the development 
of a Danish national literature, expressive of their new national 
consciousness. 

Holberg (1684-1754), distinguished in history, science, and 
philosophy, was the creator of a purely national drama that 
gave him place among the world's great satirical humorists; 
Oehlenslager (i 779-1850) opened a new era with his "Aladdin," 
that gave him place as Denmark's greatest romantic poet ; 



230 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

then Hans Andersen (1805-78) gave the world his " Tales," 
which, translated into all languages, is read and loved by 
adult and child aUke ; and in our day have appeared Georg 
Brandes, the well-known critic, Johannes Jorgensen, the poet 
and novehst, and Julius Henrik Lange, the artist and art 
critic. 

These are only a few of the array of briUiant men who for 
two centuries have spoken to the world through the Danish 
tongue. The means by which the Danes have made them- 
selves great in their own national Ufe and through which they 
are now offering to the other countries of the world concrete 
suggestions for the improvement of national and social con- 
ditions within their borders are revealed, in part, through the 
study of their schools. 

GENER.\L PLAN OF SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONS 

Initial Decree and Law. — Public education in Denmark is 
based on the decree of July 24, 1814, and a subsequent act of 
March 29, 1904. The laws of 1814 estabUshed schools in 
such rural communities as could support them and required 
the communes to bear the expense of these schools and also, 
thus early, made attendance compulsory from the ages of 
seven to fourteen. 

Purpose of Education. — The purpose of education, ac- 
cording to a Danish official statement, " is to make its pupils 
good and righteous citizens, in conformity with the Evangel- 
ical Christian religion (of the Lutheran state church), and 
to give them a certain amount of instruction and experience, 
so that they may eventually become useful citizens." 

Joint Control of Schools. — The free schools of Denmark 
are under the triple joint control of the government, church, 



Denmark 231 

and local commune. The Minister of Ecclesiastical and 
Educational Affairs interprets and executes the school laws, 
makes rules and regulations, and determines the course of study 
and methods for both city and rural free schools. He is assisted 
by an educational specialist (Konsulent) and national in- 
spectors of the special subjects, music, drawing, and gym- 
nastics. The church, through the bishops, deans, and min- 
ister, supervises locally the special phases of the work that 
pertain directly to moral and rehgious education. The most 
important supervision by the church is through the deanery, 
of which there are seventy- three in Denmark, each with its 
general board of education. Each dean is the official super- 
visor in his deanery. 

Locally, the rural committee, with one or two school dis- 
tricts, is the smallest unit of civil administration. The parish 
council, with the district committee, composed of members 
of the council and the local pastor, controls the district 
school. 

Each of the eighteen counties has a Skoleraad, or School 
Council, in charge of the finances of the school. Each district 
in the county has a Skole-Direction, or School Board, whose 
duty it is to select teachers, choose textbooks, and arrange 
the course of study. And each commune has its Skole-Kom- 
mission that cares for the local interests of the school. 

The privately owned schools that receive state aid or pre- 
pare for state examinations are supervised by the Minister 
of Ecclesiastical and Educational Affairs, through a system of 
rules and regulations and a number of inspectors who fix 
standards for accrediting. 

The university and professional schools, likewise, are under 
the general supervision of the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs 



232 Modern Edtication in Europe and the Orient 

and Public Instruction, as are the schools for the education 
of the defective classes. 

In general the plan of administration in Denmark provides 
quite well for both central and local control. 

COORDINATION OF PARTS OF THE SYSTEM 

Types of Schools. — The Danish school laws of 1903 co- 
ordinated the elementary schools, the secondary schools, the 
university and the institute of technology into one state 
system. 

The Primary School (Folkeskole) , has six or seven grades, 
extending from the sixth to the twelfth years. 

The Middle School (Mellemskole), estabhshed in 1903, has 
four grades, extending from the twelfth to the sixteenth years. 
Above the middle school are several types of secondary schools : 
(i) a one-year course called Realklasse ; (2) a three-year 
gymnasium course ; (3) continuation courses ; (4) lower and 
middle (industrial, commercial, technical) professional courses ; 
(5) the high schools, agricultural schools, and home economic 
schools, for adults. And above the gymnasium is the uni- 
versity and the institute of technology. To these must be 
added the several state schools for the education of the de- 
fective classes. 

The Primary or Elementary Schools. — The primary 
system comprises from six to eight grades, and provides for 
the children through the compulsory period, from seven to 
fourteen years of age. The grades are divided into three 
groups corresponding to the primary, intermediate, and 
grammar grades in the American schools. The subjects 
taught are : rehgion, 2 to 3 hours ; Danish with writing, 
8 to 9 hours ; arithmetic, 3 hours ; history, object lessons, 



Denmark 



233 



Ag. Horn 
H.S. Econ 

Folkehoj 
Skole 



Work 

3-5 
Years 



e ^- 






u 



u 

0) 

o 



University 

and 

School of 

Technology 



Class-i Mod- 
ical I em 



iScien- 
I tific 



Gymnasium 






18-19 
17-18 



Realklasse 



MELLEMSKOLE 



16-17 



o 



15-16 



14-15 



13-14 



12-13 



11-12 



10-11 



FOLKESKOLE 



9-10 



8-9 



7-8 



6-7 



PiCTOGRAM OF THE DANISH ScHOOL SYSTEM, I914 



234 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

geography, natural science, 3 hours ; singing, i hour ; 
making a total of 18 hours per week. This does not include 
the required work in gymnastics and sloyd for boys, and 
domestic science for girls, which are generally taught in the 
elementary schools. 

Enrollment and Child Labor. — The enrollment of 538,731 
in the public and private primary schools in 1910-11, 19.5 
per cent of the entire population, shows very conclusively 
that the Danish children go to school. This is not quite so 
good, however, as the enrollment for the same year in the 
United States, where it was 20.2 per cent. Pupils pass from 
the primary schools, some into various types of elementary 
continuation schools, others into the middle schools. In 
1910-11 there were 404,326 students in 4055 city and rural 
continuation schools of the various elementary types. This 
was 75 per cent as large as the enrollment in the regular 
elementary grades, which is certainly a valuable supplement 
to that work. 

The high percentage of enrollment in the elementary schools 
is very interesting in connection with the child labor statistics 
compiled in 1913. From an investigation recently made in 
Denmark, as reported by the United States Bureau of Educa- 
tion, for the purpose of showing the extent to which school 
children are obliged to work for a living, " it appears that of 
370,000 children, 45,000 performed such work in their homes 
and 65,000 for strangers. In the country it was found that 5 
per cent of the children of great farmers, 26 per cent of the 
children of small farmers, and 41 per cent of the children 
of country laborers worked for strangers." 

" Some children began such work at 6 years of age, and 
nearly 14,000 were only 10 years of age, or less. One half 



Denmark 235 

of the children had a working day of ten hours or more. 
The day's work began in certain cases at 4 A.M., and for 
2500 children it began at 5 to 5 : 30 a.m., and seldom ended 
before 10 p.m. The day's wage for 4000 children was ten 
cents each, together with food, and many received only ten 
cents without food." 

Doubtless the rapidly developing economic welfare of 
Denmark will soon materially improve this labor condition 
relative to her young children. The elementary continua- 
tion schools provide some instruction for many of these 
children whose working hours deprive them of the regular 
elementary school. 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

Historic Development. — During the ninth, tenth, eleventh, 
and twelfth centuries, in Denmark, Christian schools were es- 
tablished under the Benedictines, Dominicans, Cathedrals, and 
Convents. Latin schools also were established in the twelfth 
century, and modified during the sixteenth century, through 
the influence of the Reformation, and thereby brought under 
the supervision of the Lutheran clergy. These, in turn, were 
variously modified during the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies, through the prevailing influences of those periods, com- 
mon alike to other European countries. 

The disastrous effects upon Denmark of the wars of 1848 
and 1864 with Germany, awakened in her people a desire 
for more practical instruction which resulted in 1850 in the 
change of the Latin schools into the Realskole and the gym- 
nasium. The newer schools, with gradual improvements, 
developed into the secondary schools of to-day. By a law 
of 1903 these secondary schools with the elementary schools 



236 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

and the university were coordinated into one complete sys- 
tem. 

The gymnasia prepare for the university and the Real- 
skoler prepare for the middle professional schools or for 
business. These two types of schools are often conducted 
in the same building and by the same faculty, just as the 
several courses in an American high school are conducted. 

Pupils are admitted to the middle school at the age of 
twelve. The course covers four years, with a fifth year, the 
Realklasse, to prepare for the Realexamen. The course in 
the gymnasia covers three years and prepares for the uni- 
versity. In 1913, these schools numbered as follows : — 



Mellemskole : 


State 71, 


Private 104, 


Total 


175 


Gymnasia : 


State 13, 


Private 30, 


Total 
Total 


43 

218 



These 218 with other private secondary schools had in 
1913 a total attendance of 54,152 students. 

Middle Schools. — Since the coordination of the school 
system in 1903, the middle school follows the six-year ele- 
mentary course in the elementary school and admits pupils at 
twelve years of age. The course covers four years and is 
followed by a fifth year known as the Realklasse, for such 
students as desire to prepare for the Realexamen. The 
real schools that do this work successfully receive formal 
recognition from the state and usually some form of state 
aid. 

The subject matter of the middle school curriculum covers 
a range of more than a dozen subjects, but includes only 
those necessary for a general education for those who would 
extend the work of the six-year elementary school. 

The subjects are : religion, 2 hours per week ; Danish, 4 



Denmark 237 

to 5 hours per week ; English, 3 to 6 hours ; German, 4 to 5 
hours ; history, 2 to 3 hours ; geography, 2 hours ; biology, 
2 hours ; natural science, 2 hours ; mathematics, 4 to 7 hours ; 
writing, i to 2 hours ; drawing, i to 2 hours ; gymnasium, 
4 hours ; singing, i to 2 hours ; total, 36 hours per week. 

The fifth year (Rcalklasse) consists of a total of 30 hours, 
including 12 hours of language work in Danish and two 
foreign languages ; 8 hours of history and science ; 4 hours 
of commercial subjects, for boys; and the remaining hours 
of electives. 

Occupying the midway position in the system, as the middle 
school does, makes it a very important and popular school. 
A tuition of 1 20 Kroner a year is charged in the middle school 
proper and 144 Kroner in the Realklasse. 

This fee, though small, doubtless keeps many from attend- 
ing, as the enrollment is only about 10 per cent of that in the 
regular primary schools, when it should be about 15 per 
cent to compare favorably with that in the best systems. 

In Copenhagen, the girls' middle schools that prepare 
for the final examinations must have six years of work in- 
stead of five as in the boys' schools, so as to lighten the pro- 
gram for the girls. This idea of favoring the girls is quite 
generally provided for. The recitation period is quite uni- 
formly fifty minutes, and thirty-six of these are required 
for a week's work. This makes the Danish weekly program 
somewhat heavier than that of the corresponding grades in 
the American schools, though the work in writing, drawing, 
gymnastics, and singing, which covers ten of these hours, 
is not fatiguing, but rather invigorating. 

The place given to English and German in this lower 
middle school of Denmark is especially noticeable, though 



238 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the reasons are sufficiently obvious. The early mastery of 
these languages by the Danish students is of great social, 
political, and commercial value to them. 

Pupils may pass from the third year of this course to the 
lower professional schools and to various types of continua- 
tion schools. This provision is a good one for those who 
must enter remunerative employment rather than the 
higher schools. 

This tendency everywhere in the Danish system to adapt 
the school work to the needs of the different types of people 
is very characteristic. 

From the four-year course they pass into the gymnasium, 
and from the Realklasse into the middle professional schools. 
These students will have had eleven or twelve years of school- 
ing and will be sixteen or seventeen years of age. They would 
correspond fairly well to the graduates of a three-year 
American high school, offering but few elective privileges. 

Gymnasium. — The gymnasium offers three parallel courses, 
each three years in length. They are classical, modern, 
scientific. In addition to the subjects continued from the 
middle school, the following subjects appear in the gymnasium 
curriculum : Latin, Greek, French, and archeology. French 
appears throughout all three courses ; Latin, through the 
classical and modern language group ; Greek, six hours 
per week, in the classical group only ; and German in the 
modern language group. The scientific group is characterized 
by one third of the time, twelve hours per week, being given to 
science and mathematics. As in the middle school, the 
weekly program of thirty-six hours in the gymnasium seems 
heavy, from an American point of view. 

This three-course gymnasium tends to supplant the Real- 



Denmark 239 

skoler which was organized in 1850, for more practical pur- 
poses. However, many such schools continue as private 
institutions, receiving state grants. An annual tuition fee 
of 144 Kroner is charged in the gymnasia. 

Relation to Higher Schools. — The entrance examination, 
taken at the end of the three-year gymnasium course, admits 
to the university or to the institute of technology. Thus, 
the students entering these higher institutions of learning 
have had seven years of secondary training above a six years' 
elementary course. This is about one year higher than the 
American standard for admission to college. The university 
offers to these students work in five different departments : 
theology, law and political science, medicine, philosophy, 
mathematics and natural science. A great many scholar- 
ships are offered to students passing through the Danish sec- 
ondary school. There are about 1200 students enrolled in 
the university, of whom only approximately 5 per cent are 
women. 

Fully half as many gymnasium graduates enter the insti- 
tute of technology as enter the university. 

The university, just as other parts of the educational 
system, is under the general direction of the Department of 
Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs ; but its internal ad- 
ministration is conducted by a council composed of members 
from each of the faculties. 

In all classes of secondary schools the enrollment was 54,152, 
or approximately 2 per cent of the population, which added 
to the 19.5 per cent in the public and private elementary 
schools shows Denmark to rank among the best countries in 
the world in the education of her children, so far as enroll- 
ment is concerned. 



240 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

THE PEOPLE'S HIGH SCHOOL (FOLKEHOJSKOLER) 

Origin. — The folk high school is the most original and the 
most unique part of the Danish school system. This school 
is the chief factor in the rehabilitation of Danish rural society. 
It had its origin in the business and social depression of the 
wars with Germany in 1844 and 1864. 

Bishop Grundtvig (1783-187 2) was the inspiration and 
the guiding spirit in the establishment of this school. The 
founders broke away from educational traditions and based 
their school system upon the economic, social, and moral 
needs of their people. The first people's high school was 
established at Rodding in 1845, i^^ Schleswig, which was 
then Danish territory. During the following twenty years other 
schools of this type were established but none became per- 
manent. The war with Germany in 1864 further weakened 
these schools and humbled the Danish people. Then the 
people turned with a new vision to the folk high school as 
the means of regenerating their people. The school at Rodding 
was transferred to Askov, in 1864. There are now seventy- 
nine of these schools distributed throughout the small towns 
and rural districts of Denmark with an annual enrollment of 
about eight thousand men and women. It is estimated that 
fully T^T) per cent of the rural population spend some time in 
the folk high school. These schools are exclusively for men 
and women over eighteen years of age, who have had an ele- 
mentary education and from three to five years' experience in 
some vocation. A five months' term is conducted in the 
winter, for men, and three months in the spring, for women. 

Private Ownership. — The schools are privately owned but 
they receive aid from the state. If not fewer than 20 students 



Denmark 241 

attend three successive terms, the state grants a sub- 
sidy. Each accredited school receives 3000 Kroner ($810), 
and each aided student receives 25 Kroner ($6.75) per month. 
The cost of board, room, and tuition, per student, per month, 
ranges from 32 Kroner ($8.64) in the summer to 35 Kroner 
($9.45) in the winter. 

Course of Study. — The course of study consists of history, 
literature, music, a review of the elementary branches, chem- 
istry, physics, biology, bookkeeping, drawing, land measuring, 
and in some schools a little agriculture. The method of teach- 
ing is largely by lectures, followed by free discussions. Of 
the forty to fifty hours of work per week, about two thirds 
is given to history, literature, and music. 

In many rural communities night schools are maintained 
for pupils who are graduates of the elementary schools and 
cannot afford to go to the regular rural continuation schools. 
Rural children not intending to continue on the farm enter 
the middle schools of the towns, after completing the rural 
elementary schools, and thus prepare either for the university 
or technical or trade schools. 

Ideals of the People. — The people's high school is the 
outgrowth of the life and ideals of the great Bishop Grundtvig, 
who saw in the Danish-German conflict of the middle of the 
nineteenth century a stagnation and decay of the Danish peo- 
ple, unless a great intellectual and spiritual awakening could 
be aroused through a very different type of education, having 
as its heart the history and song of the nation itself. 

The greatest need and the greatest hope of the nation, 
he thought, lay in the education of the adult people. This 
education, he maintained, should begin at the eighteenth 
year, the age at which ideals can best be formulated to con- 



242 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

trol every phase of life. To meet this end, it was planned to 
give them a school a few months in the year that would take 
them away from their industrial and commercial pursuits. 
The course of study and the methods of instruction were 
so planned as to awaken the imagination and broaden the 
spiritual horizon, which in turn would strengthen the people 
in their ordinary vocations. 

Methods of Instruction. — The course of study in these 
schools, following this theory and plan of Grundtvig, is both 
cultural and practical. The leading subjects are : (i) Danish 
history, language, and literature; (2) singing of national 
songs; (3) physical culture; (4) science; and (5) vocational 
subjects. 

About two thirds of the time is given to the history and 
literature group, the instruction being given largely by the 
lecture method, in subject matter drawn mainly from the 
lives of the great characters in Danish history and letters. 
These two subjects are the character-forming studies. 

The place given to song is unique in the annals of education. 
Cooley says : ''In these schools, singing is more than a sub- 
ject or an art ; it has become an atmosphere, a feeling, an 
interest that embraces everything else in the high school 
teaching and is inseparable from it. The pupils sing one or 
two songs before each lecture and very often afterwards." 

About one third of these high schools combine vocational 
and industrial courses, such as agriculture and domestic 
science, with the cultural ; but most of them continue as 
schools of liberal education, in accord with Grundtvig's ideal. 
They are Danish through and through, with no tendency 
towards the cosmopolitan tone. 

The school session for men lasts from November to May. 



Denmark 243 

a time when they can best be spared from farm life; the 
summer months are given to the women, the same school 
plant being used for both sexes, and, for the most part, the 
same faculty being kept in service. The course of study 
for the two sexes varies slightly to meet the special needs of 
each. 

Cooperative Spirit. — Nearly 1000 students, largely from 
the rural districts, attend these schools yearly. They board 
and lodge in the schools at a cost per month of from $8.64 
in the summer to $9.45 in the winter, including board, room, 
and tuition. The spirit of cooperation is very highly de- 
veloped among the Danes and is found in every phase of their 
industrial and commercial life to a more marked extent than 
among any other people of the world. 

Danish Agricultural Schools. — After a winter in the 
people's high school, many students spend a term in a 
Danish agricultural school. Of these schools there are twenty- 
nine accredited by the government. The course in these 
schools extends from three to nine months, giving instruction 
in every phase of rural and agricultural life of value to the 
farmer, and in technical subjects necessary to the country 
mechanic. 

Household Economics. — The rural school of household 
economics, of which there are about one dozen throughout 
the country, offers a six months' course in scientific training 
for farmers' wives or prospective brides. The school runs 
the year around, thus accommodating two successive en- 
rollments each year. 

Contribution to Danish Civilization. — The main contri- 
butions of these high schools to Danish civilization consist 
in the awakening of a new spirit in the Danish farmer, which 



244 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

spirit they seek to sustain by means of high school associa- 
tions, high school homes, lecture associations, auditorium 
halls, and gymnasiums in the surrounding parish. 

The people's high schools have demonstrated the value of 
liberal education as a factor in the development of the voca- 
tional life of a country. In Denmark, alone of all the countries 
of the civilized world, the city is not gaining on the country. 
This is largely the triumph of the people's high schools. 
The Danes have come to know and to appreciate their own 
destiny and history and have developed a love of their native 
tongue and fatherland. With this they have acquired a 
degree of wholesome culture and have risen to a joyous 
conception of Christianity. 

Danish Schools in America. — This practical and up- 
lifting influence of the Danish high schools has been extended 
to several other countries through modified forms of schools 
for rural adult people. The Danes in America have estab- 
lished thirteen people's high schools, in Nebraska, Minnesota, 
Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, after the plan of the 
Danish type. Certain authorities, like Mr. Foght, writing 
in bulletins for the United States Commissioner of Education, 
advocate the introduction of this type of school in the region 
known as the South Atlantic Highland, including contiguous 
parts of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The similarity, they 
say, between rural civilization in Denmark and in these 
mountainous parts of the United States suggests the possi- 
bility of making this Danish school, with certain modifica- 
tions, transform rural life and enrich the appreciation of 
spiritual standards. Also this type of school would aid greatly 
in eliminating illiteracy among adults. 



Denmark ■ 245 

SPECIAL FEATURES 

The School Year. — The Ordinance of 1904 fixed the school 
year at 41 weeks of six days each, or 246 days. The mini- 
mum amount of work per week is the determining factor, 
which must be from 18 hours in rural districts to 21 hours 
in town schools, not including gymnastics, sloyd, drawing, 
handwork, or household economics. The general plan is 
such that, during the winter, the older children attend four 
whole days and two half days, each week ; and, during the 
summer, three whole days and three half days ; while, as to 
season, the plan is reversed for younger children. 

While the year of 41 weeks is longer than the average 
school year in the United States, yet the Danish program is 
much more flexible and thereby meets to better advantage 
the home needs and the conditions of weather and distance 
from school. 

Compulsory Attendance. — The compulsory school law re- 
quires attendance in the elementary school from the ages of 
7 to 14, though many children really enter at the age of 6. 
The attendance laws are enforced so rigidly that practically 
all children of school age attend. According to the official 
statistics of January i, 191 1, there were only 370 children of 
school age, out of a total elementary school population of 
377,066, who did not attend school during the year, only -f of 
I per cent. In the rural communities the non-attendance 
is estimated to be about i per cent of the school population. 

The compulsory attendance law is aided from within the 
school itself, where the teachers are well-trained, mature 
men and women on long tenure of office. 

Because of this, the teachers are community leaders and 



246 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

organizers. Eighty-two per cent of the elementary school 
teachers are men. These conditions are favorable to school 
attendance. This is one of the best school attendance records 
in the world. 

Prominence Given to Music. — A unique feature in the 
Danish school curriculum is the prominence given to music. 
Every teacher, whether or not he sings, must teach music. 
Some instrument, almost universally the violin, is used by 
every teacher to accompany the music. All kinds of songs, — 
religious, nature, folk, patriotic, — are sung with intense 
enthusiasm. 

Every teacher in the training schools must study singing, 
violin, and organ. A special book of songs has been compiled 
for use in the folk high schools, many of which were written 
by the revered Bishop Grundtvig. The work of the school 
day begins with a song, the hours of the day are interspersed 
with songs, and the hour of retiring is made sacred by songs 
of patriotism and religion. 

Physical Education. — Physical education, or gymnastics, 
is compulsory in the elementary schools and is voluntarily 
continued in the higher schools. Even in the country, al- 
most every community has a gymnasium in which both youth 
and adult take regular systematic exercises under trained 
leaders. The system of gymnastics in use is the Swedish, 
which is based on the underlying principles of the Ling 
system. Every teacher in the elementary schools must be 
trained to teach gymnastics. To meet this requirement the 
normal schools give systematic work in the subject. 

Since 1906 the state pays one half of the cost of a school 
gymnasium in rural districts, and this has resulted in a rapid 
multiplication of them in the small village and rural districts. 



Demnark 247 

Practically all of the elementary and secondary schools in 
the towns and cities have good gymnasiums. Emphasis is 
placed upon this subject for the twofold purpose of physical 
development and well-being, and also for the moral influence. 
Training for teachers of gymnastics is offered both in the 
normals and in special gymnastic schools. 

It is the custom in such schools as those of Copenhagen to 
require from two to three lessons per week in the elementary 
schools, each lasting from twenty-five to forty minutes per 
week ; and in the secondary schools and private schools, 
four to six lessons per week. So far as is possible, the lessons 
are given between ten a.m. and noon, as it is the general 
opinion of the teachers that this period of the day is pref- 
erable for physical training. 

Careful medical inspection is also provided once a year or 
oftener as a safeguard to proper physical training. The 
exercises used are intended to be both " nutritive " and 
" corrective." 

Quite generally some part of the physical training hour is 
given to games, which are of such a character as to permit a 
large number of children to take active part in them. 

THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

Normal Schools for Elementary Teachers. — For the edu- 
cation of teachers in the elementary schools there are four 
public and fifteen private normal schools with a three-year 
course, and one public and three private with a one-year course. 
The one-year normals prepare for the first three grades. The 
four public three-year normals are for men ; several are 
coeducational. The prevailing sentiment favors separate 
schools for sexes. 



248 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The entrance requirements for these normals is not high. 
The student must be eighteen years of age and must have 
taught one year, which service is usually in some private 
school. A small annual tuition fee of 40 Kroner is charged in the 
public normals and about 150 Kroner in the private normals. 
The course of study includes the subjects to be taught in the 
elementary schools. The characteristic features of the pro- 
gram, to an American observer, is instruction in singing, 
violin, organ, gymnastics, manual training, and religion. 

Above the three-year normal course there is a teachers' 
high school, offering to teachers of both sexes a one-year 
course for specialization in a wide range of electives. 

To secure a permanent position, a teacher must hold a 
certificate, must be a member of the Lutheran Church, must be 
twenty-five years of age, and must have had four years of 
successful experience. This qualification gives the teacher 
a permanent position and a free residence. 

The standard of work in the normal schools is not high, 
but the quality of the work and the professional spirit is good. 

The Training of Secondary Teachers. — Teachers for 
secondary schools must take a university course consisting 
of three phases of training. First, they complete the aca- 
demic work and take the examinations for the certificate. 
Second, they take the professional training. Third, they do 
practice teaching in some approved secondary school. 

Any teacher, to secure a permanent position, must take the 
prescribed course of training, pass the state examinations, 
profess the doctrine of the Lutheran Church, and must have 
taught four years. He then becomes an employee of the state, 
may have a free residence, and becomes eligible in time for 
a pension. 



Denmark 249 

Teachers' Pensions. — Both men and women teachers, if 
they have met the requirements for definite appointment, 
are eligible to receive pensions after ten years of service, 
following the thirtieth year of their Ufe. This pension equals 
two thirds of the average salary received during the last 
five years. A special provision is made by which a secondary 
teacher may retire after two years of service with an amount 
equal to one tenth of the salary. Teachers 70 years old 
may retire on two thirds of their last year's salary. The 
state appropriates annually a sufficient amount to meet the 
calls upon the pension fund. 

THE PROBLEM OF COEDUCATION 

In the Elementary Schools. — In the rural and village 
schools, coeducation has always been the custom and is 
regarded by many as a great moral advantage, as well as an 
economic necessity. But separate schools for boys and girls 
are provided in the elementary departments of the town and 
city schools where enough pupils of each sex exist to main- 
tain a separate school. Coeducation is thus a problem of 
the number of pupils in a settlement, so far as the elementary 
schools are concerned. 

In Secondary Schools. — In secondary education, however, 
the influence of the middle ages, as to principles and prac- 
tices in the education of women, has continued as a factor. 
As a result, but few schools were provided for the girls until 
recently, and these were not aided by the state. A great 
impetus was given to the education of girls in the estabUsh- 
ment of a training school for women teachers as early as 
1851. 

In the larger cities, good schools for girls have existed for 



250 Modern Education in Europe and tJie Orient 

many years, some of which prepare girls for the same examina- 
tions as are prescribed for graduates of the Gymnasia and Real 
Schools. The Education Act of 1903 opened the secondary 
schools to girls, thus establishing coeducation in secondary 
education and admitting girls to schools hitherto attended 
only by boys. In 1905, the proportion of girls to boys in the 
secondary schools was as follows: boys, 16,272 ; girls, 11,228. 
For many years prominent Danish educators, some of them 
principals of. important coeducational institutions, have ad- 
vocated coeducation in secondary schools as a means of a 
better moral adjustment, which they consider to be a funda- 
mental issue. They beheve that the best results come when 
the two sexes associate quite freely in the classroom and in 
recreation. They believe that coeducation carried on with 
interest and care raises the standard of morality. Their 
theory is that coeducation in the secondary school necessi- 
tates it in the elementary schools that prepare for the 
higher schools. It also necessitates a coeducational faculty, 
with women in charge of the problems of special interest to 
girls. 

A teachers' pubhc high school, open to both sexes, has been 
established, but the four pubhc normal schools are for men, 
only. Several of the fifteen private public normal schools 
are likewise coeducational, but the others are about evenly 
divided between the sexes. 

In the People's High School. — In the people's high 
schools, as is shown elsewhere, the sexes are separated by being 
instructed at different times of the year, but the course of 
study is practically the same for both. Thus it appears 
that Denmark is yielding to the same world tendency operat- 
ing in other countries to place women on an equal plane with 



Denmark 251 

men in educational advantages. The following comparison 
of the enrollment of the two sexes in the University of Copen- 
hagen for the year 1906-07 throws some Ught upon the present 
situation: men, 1106; women, 59. Coeducation at the top 
of the system has just begun. 

In the National Capital. — In Copenhagen, the capital, 
private schools for girls are preferred, though coeducation is 
permitted and is in successful operation in several public 
high schools. In some cases the course of study is extended 
so as to lighten the work for girls, and a special finishing 
exan-ination, also, has been instituted for them. Such 
schools, for girls, since 1907, must have six grades, and the 
girls must be seventeen years old in order to be admitted 
to the examinations. 

RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION 

Religious Toleration — The state church is the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, to which the king must belong ; other- 
wise there is complete rehgious toleration with representa- 
tives within the kingdom of practically all of the important 
denominations. For centuries the church had control of 
education when there were no free public schools, but grad- 
ually secularization has reduced the control of the church to 
a mere nominal one. However, the harmonious relation- 
ship between church and state has preserved for rehgious 
instruction an important place in the course of study, in all 
types of the Danish schools. Even the discussions in recent 
years, looking to the separation of the church and state, 
have been so mild and democratic that religious instruction 
in the schools has not been disturbed. 

The church population according to creeds is as follows : 



252 Modern Education in Europe and tlie Orient 

Lutherans 2,436,084 

Catholics (Roman) 5,373 

Catholics (Greek) 106 

Jews 3,473, with small numbers of 

Baptists, Methodists, Mormons, and others. 



Church Supervision of Schools. — The bishops and other 
clergy of the state church are appointed by the king, and 
upon them rest the duty of inspection of both churches and 
schools. The minister is also a school commissioner, which 
provision gives the church direct supervision over education 
in the pubHc as well as in the parochial schools. Of the latter 
type, including all non-state denominations, there are nearly 
3000 in Denmark. 

Luther's Smaller Catechism, or some authorized version of 
the same, constitutes the basis of the religious instruction 
in the communal schools. 

Theology in the University. — The culmination of church 
influence in education is found in the University of Copen- 
hagen, which has a theological department with a faculty of 
five ordinary professors. Here the Danish clergy receive 
their education. Hence, the theology of this department 
in the university becomes the controlling rehgious influence 
in the churches and schools of the nation. In the year 
1906-07 there were thirty-four students in the department of 
theology. The state further encourages theological students 
by granting several stipends for this purpose. There is no 
other country in which religious control is so completely 
centralized in the National University as in Denmark. 

Religious Education Abroad. — Active religious missions 
exist for work both at home and abroad. Of the latter, one 
of special interest is the society for Danish-Americaji missions. 



Denmark 253 

which supplies the Danish churches of North America with 
preachers, and offers further aid in this country. 

Religion in the Course of Study. — The textbook for re- 
ligious instruction in the primary schools must be approved 
by the minister. This subject receives from two to three 
hours per week, out of a total of eighteen hours of instruction 
throughout the grades of the primary or elementary school 
system. Religion is also a constant subject in all the grades 
for the middle school and the gymnasium. Likewise, the 
course of study for normal schools includes religious instruc- 
tion. And one of the requirements of a teacher who would 
secure a permanent position is to profess the doctrines of the 
Lutheran Church. Even in the people's high schools reUgion 
is given a prominent place as one of the lecture subjects, for 
its spiritual and inspirational value. Regarding religion in 
this type of school, Mr. Friend says: " The religious influence 
of the folk high schools is of a most positive character, though 
no attempt is made to teach dogmatic religion. Separate 
lessons in religion are not given, and the church exercises 
no control whatever over the teaching of the high schools. 
Through the work of the school, however, particularly through 
history and literature, there is constant emphasis upon the 
underlying principles of reUgion. In the words of one of 
the high school principals : ' In the study of history in the 
high schools the hand of God is shown all through the evolu- 
tion of the Ages.' The teachers are all religious men and 
women, and through their example also the spirit of rehgion 
is inculcated in the Hves of their pupils." 

This compulsory religious instruction in all schools gives 
rise to much controversy in Denmark. With 98 per cent of 
the population belonging to the Lutheran Church it is com- 



254 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

paratively easy, however, to enforce such a law. The 2 per 
cent of non-conformists are exempt from the religious in- 
struction of the school provided they are taught the religion 
of their parents. 

The church confirms almost all of the Danish children, at 
the age of fourteen or fifteen, in the state church, thus empha- 
sizing somewhat more the importance of religious instruction. 

In the course of the religious instruction, moral instruction 
is interwoven more or less as the individual teacher may see 
fit. But much of the moral instruction grows out of the 
courses in history and literature, rather than out of the re- 
ligious courses. Even the songs used in the schools are chiefly 
religious. Many teachers feel that Christianity, as it meets 
the students in the historical lecture, in the personal lives of 
the teachers, and in the tone of the school, has its strongest 
influence on them. Whether or not this method of religious 
and moral instruction is better than the method of separation 
of school and reHgion as used in the United States is an open 
question. 

PROVISION FOR THE DEFECTIVE 

Government Paternalistic. — Denmark is paternalistic in 
the care of her defective children, an attitude that reveals 
the heart of a people and adds the strength of the fortunate 
to the weakness of the victim of heredity and chance environ- 
ment. The schools for this class, as are those for normals, 
are under the supervision of the Minister of Public Instruction 
and Ecclesiastical Affairs. Since 1807, Denmark has shown 
her interest in this work, establishing in that year the first 
school for the deaf and making instruction therein compulsory 
for children so affected. 



Denmark 255 

Private and Public Schools. — There are now four such 
schools, two public and two private, with an enrollment of 
four hundred students. Likewise, the state has two prepara- 
tory schools for the bhnd children up to the age of ten. At 
the age of ten these children enter the higher school, which 
was established in 181 1 and which now has a faculty of ten 
instructors and one hundred students. 

Schools for the feeble-minded have been maintained since 
1855, both by private endowment and by taxation, some for 
children, others for adults. Several hundred inmates are 
found in these schools and asylums. 

Care of Defectives in the Capital. — The city of Copen- 
hagen makes special provision for her own subnormals in the 
elementary schools. These classes are estabHshed for those 
children who either for lack of capacity or because of de- 
fective speech and defective organs of senses are unable after 
two years in the first grade, to meet the requirements for 
promotion. 

Admission of pupils to these classes occurs at the age of 
eight or nine years. These children leave school at the age 
of fourteen, as the other children do under the provisions of 
the compulsory school attendance law. The theory that 
pertains in the direction of these auxiliary classes and schools 
is that they should pay the greatest regard to the physical 
condition of the poor children, that they should be under 
special medical observation, their sickness should be medi- 
cally treated, starved children should be fed. Further- 
more, the appHances and premises of the schools should be 
adapted in the best way to the needs of the children, the 
school day and the lessons should be short, and the leisure 
hours should be frequent and long, in order to avoid fatiguing 



256 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the pupils. The realization of all these conditions is considered 
necessary to secure satisfactory results of the teaching in the 
auxiUary classes. 

POLYTECHNIC AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS 

The institute of technology is a very superior institution, 
with a faculty of twenty-four professors and fourteen instruc- 
tors, and with a student body of nine hundred, as reported 
in the year 1913-14. The budget of that year was 425,000 
Kroner. This school has been in operation since 1829 and has 
supplied the world, for nearly a century, with scientifically 
trained technologists for both professional and practical pur- 
suits. Very much of the recent development of technical 
industries in Denmark has been under the scientific direction 
of the graduates of the institute of technology. 

The professional schools cover the range of dentistry, phar- 
macy, agriculture, gardening, veterinary surgery, navigation, 
commerce, music, fine arts, etc., with several thousand students 
in preparation. 

In addition to these scientific schools, various societies of 
national and honorable standing exist to further the interests 
and application of modern scientific theories and discoveries. 
The various departments in the university also conduct free 
public lecture courses throughout the kingdom, for the further 
spread of scientific knowledge. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN 

Origin. — The educational institution of highest rank in 
Denmark is the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1475 
by King Christian I, and reorganized in 1539 under the in- 



Denmark 257 

fluence of Lutheranism. During the long period of its history 
it has suffered two disasters, one in 1792, in which it was de- 
stroyed by fire, the other in 1807, when the buildings were 
destroyed by bombardment of the city. The erection of 
the present buildings, in 1831-36, since the last disaster, makes 
them of comparatively recent origin. 

Administration. — The administration of the university, 
as stated elsewhere, is under the general supervision of the 
Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Instruction, but 
on the other hand it enjoys a large measure of self-control. 
The inner affairs of the university are conducted by a uni- 
versity council, composed of sixteen members, a part of whom 
are representatives of the several faculties. 

There are five faculties, each with from five to fifteen 
members. They are, theology, law, medicine, philosophy, 
mathematics, and natural science. 

The professors of the university are nominated by the 
Minister of Education after counsel with a university com- 
mittee, and then formally appointed by the king. 

This method of administration is very strongly centralized 
in comparison with the administration of a state university 
in America under an appointive board of trustees. 

The method serves the purpose, however, for which it is 
intended, that is, to keep the university in harmony with the 
national government. 

Patronage. — Although intended primarily for graduates of 
the Danish secondary schools, yet the university is open to 
all who can meet the entrance requirements. It is attended 
by both sexes, though there are but few women enrolled, 
possibly less than i of i per cent of more than 2000 students. 

Support. — A part of the maintenance is met by the state, 



258 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the remainder by endowments. In 191 2-13, the expenses 
were 1,187,053 Kroner, of which the state appropriations met 
811,434 Kroner, or about 69 per cent. The university has 
a hbrary of 400,000 volumes, a museum, an academy of surgery, 
an observatory, a medical laboratory, and botanical and zoolog- 
ical gardens. 

Scholarships. — The Danish method of encouraging gradu- 
ates of secondary schools to attend the university is the one so 
common elsewhere, that of granting scholarships by the state, 
of which there are in Denmark one hundred open annually. 

Renown. — Many famous men have been connected with 
this historic institution, such as Oersted and Lorenz in physics, 
Hoffding in philosophy, Thomsen in chemistry, Brandes in 
literature, and Meyer in medicine. 

The university is a great center of scientific research and 
ranks among the best, though not the largest, in the world. 

The standard for admission is high, it being thirteen years of 
thorough training in the elementary school, middle school, 
and gymnasium, with a final entrance examination. The 
course in the university is from five to six years and in the 
case of medicine, seven years. The degrees from this in- 
stitution are highly honored. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Give a brief history of the relation of the church to education in 
Denmark. 

2. Compare the elementary schools of Denmark with the elementary 
schools of Norway and Sweden. 

3. Compare the Child Labor Laws of Denmark with those in the 
United States in their bearing upon school attendance. 

4. Discuss the Danish middle school, showing its merits in compari- 
son with the American grade and high schools covering the same years. 



Denmark 259 

5. Compare the preparation for entrance to the Danish university 
with that in England for entrance to Oxford or Cambridge. 

6. Discuss the adaptation of the Danish rural high school to Amer- 
ican needs. 

7. Compare the place given to music in the Danish schools with 
that given the same subject in the German schools. 

8. Taking the population of Denmark and of your state as a basis 
for comparison, show which of the two makes the most ample provision 
for the training of teachers. 

9. Compare coeducation in the three Scandinavian countries. 

10. Write a thesis on the prominence and influence of the Danes in 
America. 

Special Bibliography 

CoOLEY, C. G. Bishop Grundtvig, Educational Review, December, 

1914, New York. 
FoGHT, H. W. The Danish Folk High School, Bulletin No. 22, 1914, 

United States Bureau of Education, Washington, D.C. 

The Danish Rural Schools. The Macmillans, 191 5, New York. 

Franch. Education System of Denmark, United States Commission 

of Education, 1889-90. Pages 519-48. 
Friend, T. L. The Folk High Schools of Denmark, Bulletin No. 5, 

1914, United States Bureau of Education, Washington, D.C. 
Hertz, Paul, M.D. School Hygiene in Copenhagen, Second Interna- 
tional Congress in School Hygiene, London, 1907. 
Sadley, M. E. Moral Instruction and Training in Schools, Vol. II, 

London. 
Schoeslieb, M. D. Physical Training in Stockholm and Copenhagen, 

The Nineteenth Century, Vol. LX, 1906. Pages 986-87. 



NORWAY 
CHAPTER VIII 

HISTORY 

Early Finns. — The aboriginal people in Norway were doubt- 
less of the Finnish race, who, as fishers and hunters, dwelt 
there as early as 6000 B.C. Such, at least, is the conclusion 
of the archeologists who claim that the instruments found 
in Norway and representing the stone age were made by the 
earlier inhabitants, the Finns, and not by the Teutons, who 
did not enter Norway until about 1700 B.C., near the end of 
the later stone age. But the Teutons either absorbed the 
Finns or drove them into border lands, where they doubtless 
continued to exist for centuries, as shown by such historic 
sources as the "Beowulf" and the ancient laws of Norway. 

Teutonic Contributions. — The Teutons made two per- 
manent contributions of great worth ; they established the 
Teutonic language as the parent of the present-day Nor- 
wegian, and they established the independent ownership of 
land, which characterizes farm life in modern Norway. 

Historical Period. — The historic period of Norway begins 
in the ninth century, with the struggles of Harold Fairhair 
to unite the petty kingdoms under his rule. This he suc- 
ceeded in doing in 872, thus establishing a united kingdom, 
but at the expense of free independent land-ownership, for 
which he substituted a most slavish feudal system. For 
nearly four and a half centuries, until 13 19, with but three 

260 



Norway 261 

short breaks, Norway was ruled by descendants of Harold 
Fairhair. 

Struggle for Independence. — At this time, 13 19, Norway 
and Sweden united under one king, thus ending Norway's 
independence as a separate nation for nearly six centuries, 
until 1905. These centuries have been stormy ones for Nor- 
way; now united with Sweden (1319-1397), now with all 
Scandinavia (1397-1523), now with Denmark (1523-1814), 
now with Sweden (1814-1905), finally an independent nation 
(1905-). The history of Norway's struggle for independ- 
ence is simply one of the many versions of the struggle of 
the human soul upward from primitive conditions to the place 
of independent manhood. 

Introduction of Christianity. — Christianity was intro- 
duced into Norway by Haakon the Good and firmly estab- 
lished by Olaf, who in his short reign, 995 to 1000, brought 
bishops and priests from England and organized the church 
on the English basis, which accounts to some extent for the 
present Norwegian system of church administration. The 
darkest period in all the history of Norway was the period 
of the Reformation. Norway was merely a province of Den- 
mark in those days and her people largely adherents of the 
Catholic faith. Christian III of Denmark, through the 
Danish ecclesiastical law, called the Ordinance, introduced 
the Lutheran faith into Norway by confiscating the church 
lands and plundering the churches and monasteries and sup- 
planting Catholic bishops with Lutheran pastors, as fast as 
the objectionable type of them could be spared from Denmark. 
This abuse was finally corrected by the conservation and 
laborious efforts of Gijeble Pederson, the first Lutheran bishop 
in Bergen, who began the work of educating a native Protes- 



262 Modern Education in Europe atid tlie Orient 

tant clergy. To-day the Evangelical Lutheran is the state re- 
ligion, to which the king, his council, other officials and the 
school teachers of the nation must conform. Every religion, 
however, is tolerated. 

Character of Government. — The Norwegian government, 
since 1905, has been the most democratic in Europe. Though 
in name a hereditary monarchy, it is, in fact, a republic, for 
the king has no real power, " he is to them what their flag is 

— a symbol of national unity. Both are saluted with respect, 
but neither one nor the other is vested with power." 

The Norwegian woman is the equal of man, in law as well 
as in reality, and still remains feminine and the mother of the 
home : this is one of the striking characteristics of the politi- 
cal and social Hfe of the wonderful little country of Norway, 

— a country of equal suffrage, of peasant land owners, of 
public schools, of religious toleration, with the very atmosphere 
surcharged for centuries with the spirit of democracy. Is it 
any wonder that the 500,000 Norwegian emigrants in the 
United States make good citizens of a free republic? But 
Norway still has her problems — land for the increasing 
peasant population, readjustment of education for all classes, 
temperance, divorce, illegitimacy, social readjustment, foreign 
relations, moral and religious reconstruction, and a national 
language. 

HER GOVERNMENT 

Constitutional Monarchy. — Norway terminated her union 
with Sweden in 1905 and became an independent monarchy, 
a condition of individuality that she had not enjoyed since 
she surrendered her independence in the Union of Calmar 
with Sweden and Denmark in 1397. Her new king took the 



Norway 263 

title of Haakon VII to emphasize the essential continuity of 
the new Norwegian monarchy with that of the old. The 
constitution and laws of to-day are based fundamentally on 
the Norwegian constitution of 1814, which was the outgrowth 
of the French Revolution, with all reference to Swedish affilia- 
tion omitted. The government, in form, is a constitutional, 
hereditary monarchy, with more popular elements than are 
found in the governments of either Denmark or Sweden. The 
king must be a member of the Lutheran Church, as also must 
be the eight or more members of the King's Council of State, 
who are appointed by the crown. The executive powers are 
really in the hands of the king and council combined. 

Equal Suffrage. — Norway led the European countries until 
recently in extending electoral privileges to women. Since 
May, 1 9 10, women have exercised the same electoral privileges 
in municipal elections as men. But as yet the parliamen- 
tary franchise has been extended only to such unmarried 
women, twenty-five years of age, as pay taxes on an annual 
income of not less than 300 Kroner, and upon married women 
of the same age whose husbands pay taxes on the same amount 
of income. Thus, women may not only vote for members 
of, but sit in the Norwegian Storthing, the most democratic 
national legislative body in Europe. The Storthing is elected 
as one body and then divides into two. A bill passed by the 
Storthing becomes a law with the approval of the king, or 
with his disapproval, by being passed by three successive 
Storthings, an event that seldom occurs. 

Justice. — Civil justice in Norway is administered through 
district courts, of which there are eighty rural and twenty-five 
urban, three higher tribunals, and a Supreme Court, whose 
decision may be neither appealed nor reviewed. 



264 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

For criminal prosecutions there are two types of courts, 
(i) with a jury, (2) without a jury. There is also a court of 
impeachment for the trial of charges of misconduct in ofi&ce. 

Local Government. — Local government is through twenty 
counties, of which Christiania is one and Bergen another. 
The head of each county is appointed by the crown. The 
commune, of which there are more than seven hundred, is 
the smallest local unit. This unit is governed by a council 
of from twelve to forty-eight members, chosen by universal 
suffrage. The local control of the schools is through county 
and communal school boards. 

THE PEOPLE AND THEIR LANGUAGE 

Geography and Population. — Norway, with an area of 
124,495 square miles and a population of about 2,500,000, is 
one of the most sparsely populated countries of Europe. 
Three fourths of her population is rural and one fourth urban. 
The capital city, Christiania, has a population of approximately 
250,000. The cause of this slight density of population is 
found mainly in the extreme ruggedness of the country, the 
result of which is that about two thirds of the population 
dwell by the coast and fjords, and one third in the low- 
lands and uplands. This characteristic condition of the 
country and population makes the problem of education 
for Norway a unique one, and will account for some of 
the special features of her system, such as local control, 
ambulatory schools, etc. 

Social Problems. — Social problems, touching her popu- 
lation, are (i) high rate of mortahty of males, due to the dan- 
gers of seafaring life; (2) preponderance of females over 
males ; (3) high percentage of longevity ; (4) high percentage 



Norway 265 

of illegitimacy (now on the decline and less than that in 
Denmark and Sweden) ; (5) the high birth rate and the low 
death rate ; and (6) high percentage of emigration to other 
countries, mainly to the United States of America. 

Racial Traits. — Combined with these social problems 
are the overstrong national feeling and the conservation of 
ancient customs and practices that make the Norwegians a 
stable race of yeomen without an aristocracy or nobility. 
They are large of stature and vigorous in body and mind. In 
political consciousness they are democratic and thus are 
striving to give to their children the type of education that will 
perpetuate Norway as a government for the people. They 
are not impulsive, but, nevertheless, are open minded and 
ready to investigate the experiences and accomplishments 
of other nations, and then quick to adopt from such studies 
what can be made to fit into their national needs. 

Dano-Norwegian in Language. — From a linguistic sense, 
the Norwegians are not purely such, but are Dano-Norwegian 
and have been so since the end of the fourteenth century, 
when the Danish influence became paramount. This move- 
ment reached its climax by the opening of the Reformation, 
in the disappearance of Norwegian from the language of 
literature and documentary writings. Thus, the native 
Norwegians have had three centuries of linguistic as well as 
political and social struggles to endure and to surmount. Ivar 
Aaseh, who in 1848 began a movement to rehabilitate the 
Norwegian tongue and to form a national language, is revered 
in this connection. For the past half century this work has 
been moving forward through the incorporation into literary 
speech of many idioms and words from the Norwegian dialects. 
The relationship of the present-day Norwegian language to 



266 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the literary Dano-Norwegian is similar to that of the Ameri- 
can literature to the English. 

The Landsmaal. — An important crisis in this linguistic 
struggle came in 1899, when the proposition to adopt the lands- 
maal, or composite dialect of the peasants, in place of the rigs- 
maal, or Dano-Norwegian, was warmly controverted by the 
two opposing parties. The great obstacle to such a change 
seems to be the existence of practically all the classics of 
Norway in the Dano-Norwegian, their being but one striking 
exception, that of Arne Garborg, the novelist of peasant birth 
and dialect. In the Dano-Norwegian array stood all the 
philologists and writers, with the master of letters, Bjornson, 
at their head, backed by Ibsen's scoff at the project, in " Peer 
Gynt." 

In recent years, however, the government has repeatedly 
shown an inclination to make a knowledge of the landsmaal 
obligatory in academic examinations and otherwise, to such 
an extent that many fear that Norway will be burdened with 
two languages — one of the people and one of literature. For 
more than forty years, since 1874, the date of the introduction 
of the first language bill, the legislature has been concerned 
with the language problem, and many primary and secondary 
schools, by permission, have taught the landsmaal. In 1899 
a professorship of the landsmaal and the Norwegian dialects 
was established at the University of Christiania. 

In the church also, progress has been made in the spread of 
the landsmaal through the printing of the ritual and a hymn- 
book and the use of the landsmaal by a few preachers. But, 
as yet, the districts that have adopted the language for use 
in their schools amount to only about one eighth of the entire 
population. 



Norway 267 

It is very questionable from a practical standpoint whether 
or not national prejudice, the real root of the matter, will ever 
be able to overshadow the literary language, now five centuries 
old. The centennial celebration, that met May, 1914, revived 
again this question from the extreme national viewpoint. 

PLAN OF SCHOOL CONTROL" 

State Department of Education. — The entire Norwegian 
school system is under the control of the Department of Edu- 
cation and Ecclesiastical Affairs and is administered directly 
by a member of the king's cabinet. One of the two divisions 
of the department is concerned with the education work and 
this is divided into two bureaus, one in charge of primary 
education, the other of secondary education, each caring 
mainly for the clerical work pertaining to its own type of 
schools. 

Diocesan School Directors. — Subordinate to this state 
department, there are six dioceses of the kingdom, each having 
a school director, — and the most northern, because of its size, 
two, — who is responsible for primary education in his diocese. 
The directors are appointed by the king's cabinet, paid by 
the state, and are responsible to the state for the work in 
their respective territories. The secondary schools are in- 
spected, supervised, and examined by a state educational com- 
mission, consisting of seven men, appointed by the king's 
cabinet, from leading school men of the nation, some of whom 
are rectors of secondary schools. 

Local School Boards. — Each county has a school board, 
consisting of three members, appointed by the county council, 
to look after the general and financial interests of the county. 
Each local commune (town or division of the county) has its 



268 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

own school board, whose chief duties pertain to the appoint- 
ment of committees and teachers, the preparation of a course 
of study, and the school budget. Tliis board is composed of 
the local priest, a member of the council, one or two teachers 
and other male and female members, appointed by the council. 
One fourth of this board must be parents of children in school. 

The school board does its supervisory work mainly through 
two committees, one, the committee of inspection and the 
other, the school committee. The membership of the first 
committee consists of a board member and parents; and of 
the second, teachers selected by the staff. The duties of the 
inspection committee are largely concerned with the physical 
and moral welfare of the schools, while those of the school 
committee are primarily pedagogical. 

The city system of schools is supervised by a superintend- 
ent, and each separate school by a head master. The duties 
of these officials are very much the same as those of the similar 
officials in an American city school. 

This plan of school control is one of the most democratic 
in the world, as it brings together the parents, teachers, min- 
isters, and communal councils in the direct management of 
the schools. 

Control of Secondary Schools. — The state secondary 
schools are controlled locally by a board of five members, 
while the municipal secondary schools are controlled by a 
municipal or private board. The principal and permanent 
teachers in the state secondary schools are appointed by the 
king and are government officials. The teachers in the 
municipal secondary schools are appointed by the Depart- 
ment of Education. These latter schools are further con- 
trolled by the government through a system of state aid. 



Norway 269 

Control of Normal Schools and University. — The state 
normal schools, of which there is one in each diocese, and 
the state university are all under state control, and in the latter 
institution even the professors are appointed by the king. 
This centralization of authority in normal and higher edu- 
cation in Norway is a characteristic feature of her school 
system. It is in marked contrast to the system of individual 
state control in the United States. 

THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS 

General Plan. — The primary schools, for both rural and 
city districts, consist of seven grades, for children between the 
ages of seven and fourteen. In the rural districts these 
seven grades are grouped into two divisions, the lower of which 
includes three grades, and is known as the Infant School. The 
law requires these schools to be in operation at least twelve 
weeks in the year, while, as a fact, as a result of the general 
interest in education, most of the city schools and many of the 
rural schools have an annual session of forty weeks, six days 
per week. In the rural school, when a shorter term is held, 
the number of hours per week may be greater. 

Course of Study. — The course of study for the primary 
school is quite uniform for both rural and city districts, being 
fixed by the Normal Plan, which is prepared by the Depart- 
ment of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs. For the city 
schools, however, the course of study is quite generally en- 
riched by the addition of optional subjects, such as modern 
languages, domestic science for girls, and, in the northern 
districts the native language for the Finns and Laps, who are 
found there. The hst of subjects in the Normal Plan is, — 
rehgion, Norwegian, arithmetic and geometry, geography, 



270 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

history, science, singing, writing, gymnastics, manual work, 
drawing. Religion only is fixed by statute. 

Special Provisions for Rural Districts. — Special provisions 
for the rural districts are made as follows : — (i) Ambulatory 
schools, for districts where the population is sparse and where 
there are fewer than twenty pupils, are held in homes for 
a few weeks at the time, and then teachers, with equipment, 
move on to the next similar district. Such schools are rapidly 
disappearing, there being but i per cent of the country chil- 
dren attending such schools now, in comparison with 92 per 
cent in 1837. 

(2) Owing to distance, many districts are divided into several 
infant school districts with a school in each district for chil- 
dren seven to ten years of age. 

(3) The number of pupils must not exceed 35 per class, 
except temporarily, for urgent economic reasons, it may 
run up to 45, these numbers being 10 fewer than those 
for the city. 

(4) The standard set for the completion of the course of 
study is somewhat lower, for obvious reasons. 

(5) The teachers in the rural infant school may hold the 
lower grade certificate. 

(6) The rural teachers are suppHed with homes consisting 
of house, garden, and pasturage for two or three cows. This 
home is comfortable in every respect and it helps to make 
the teacher an abiding citizen in that community. Over 
one half of the 6000 rural teachers live in such free homes. 
It is an interesting fact, in this connection, that 75 percent of 
the rural teachers are men. May there not be a valuable 
suggestion here for the United States, where the reverse pro- 
portion of men and women teachers exists? 



Norway 271 

Ratio of Rural and City School Enrollment. — The Nor- 
wegian school problem is further revealed through the fact 
that three fourths of her children are in rural schools, as 
shown by the last available statistics — 280,121 in the rural 
schools and only 96,602 in the city schools. This fact, however, 
should be studied in relation to the enrollment in private 
schools, which abound in city districts, as discussed elsewhere. 
The total enrollment in the primary schools of Norway is 
about i5i per cent of the entire population, which is high in 
comparison with that in other countries. 

Cost of Primary Schools. — The state spends upon these 
schools, per capita of population, $1.57 ; per capita of enroll- 
ment, $10.06. These figures must also be viewed in relation 
to the private school attendance, and to the further fact that 
the local districts and communes pay about 65 per cent of the 
expenses of the primary schools, and the state the other 35 
per cent. 

THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS (MIDDELSKOLE) 

Relation to Primary School. — Pupils pass from the fifth 
grade of the primary schools into the middle school for a four- 
year course. Some students, who complete the seven-year 
course in the primary school and decide to take the work of 
the middle school, enter and complete the course in three 
years. 

This school was organized in 1896, to serve as a connecting 
link between the primary school and the gymnasium, and to 
give a more extensive and a broader general education for the 
mass of the people. The definition and aim of this school, as 
given by the law, is, " The middle school is a school for chil- 
dren, which, in union with the primary school, gives its pupils 



272 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

a complete, thorough general education adapted to the re- 
ceptivity of childhood." The course of study may vary from 
one to four years and is made uniform by a Plan furnished by 
the Department of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, and 
by a uniform examination (middelskole examen), taken on 
the same day throughout the nation. 

Course of Study. — The subjects taught in the middle 
schools are those of the primary schools, with the addition 
jf German in all the grades and English in the three upper 
grades. In some of the shorter courses only one modern 
language is taught. The reasons for the selection of these 
two particular languages, to be taught thus early, are apparent 
and significant. Norway is intimately related to Germany 
and England politically, commercially, and industrially. 

Cost of Secondary Education. — Instruction in the middle 
schools is not free ; the state pays about one third of the 
teachers' salaries and some scholarship funds, the remainder 
being paid by municipal grants and tuitions. However, 
the tendency is toward free instruction in these schools 
and in some communes such provisions have already 
been made. 

Coeducation. — These schools are coeducational, though 
in certain classes and often on the playgrounds, the sexes are 
separated. There exist many private boys' and girls' schools 
of this type without the examination privileges, but with 
freer arrangement, especially for the education of the girls. 
Doubtless the number of these private middle schools will 
diminish as the state extends free tuition to the state middle 
schools, and through the exercise of their genius makes the 
course of study meet the individual and group needs which 
are now met only by private initiative. 



Norway 273 

In the accredited middle schools in 1910-11 there were 
approximately 10,000 students enrolled. 

The teachers in the middle schools are required to be uni- 
versity graduates, with pedagogical training at the seminary. 

THE GYMNASIUM 

Relation to the Middle School. — The gymnasium, in accord 
with the legislative act of 1896, follows in regular succession 
the middle school. The course extends through three years 
and in the first year is uniform for all students, while- in the 
second and third years, by a system of electives, it divides 
into three groups, — (i) real, with emphasis upon mathe- 
matics and science; (2) language-history, with emphasis 
upon these two subjects; and (3) language-history, with 
Latin in the second and third years only. 

The Course of Study. — The course of study is fixed by 
the state and is otherwise made uniform through a system of 
inspection and a finishing examination for admission to 
the university. The subjects taught are, — religion, Nor- 
wegian, German, French, English, Latin, history, geography, 
mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, stereometry, 
analytic geometry, and higher mathematical series), natural 
history, drawing, gymnastics, and singing. 

It is worthy of notice that the classical languages, — Hebrew, 
Greek, and Latin, — that for centuries constituted the major 
part of the old middle schools' curriculum, have all disappeared, 
as required subjects, under the law of 1896. Only Latin re- 
mains as an elective in the upper two years. Otherwise these 
languages are found only in private schools and the univer- 
sity. The aim has been to free these schools from needless 
subjects and to put in their place modern and more practical 



274 Modern Education in Europe and tlw Orient 

ones. These schools are coeducational. The teachers are 
university graduates with special training in the pedagogical 
seminary. There are a large number of private gymnasiums 
both approved and non-approved. 

Students and Cost. — In 1909 there were 1725 (one fourth 
girls) students in the accredited state gymnasia. In 1910-1 1 in 
all the state and private secondary schools combined there 
were 22,476 students, of which 11,620, or a little over one half, 
were in fully accredited schools. Toward the expense of these 
schools the state and commune paid 51 per cent, the other 
49 per cent being met by tuition, fees, and endowments. 

State Policy regarding Coeducation. — It is the policy of 
the state to favor coeducational gymnasia for state aid, rather 
than the separate girls' schools. This attitude of the state 
tends to close up the smaller and weaker of the girls' schools, 
and to consolidate them into larger schools, with sufhcient 
strength to continue as separate girls' schools, without state 
aid. There are still ten or more large secondary schools for 
girls, and many small ones. This tendency toward coeduca- 
tion is a good illustration of economic necessity overcoming 
historic tradition. 

The requirements of a final examination for admission to 
the university went into operation in 1903. Since then much 
discussion and discontent have existed regarding the standards, 
methods, training of secondary teachers, and other subjects 
incident to the change. These problems and the particular 
ones regarding the relation of the gymnasium to the middle 
school and to the primary school will keep the question of 
secondary education uppermost for years, and until another 
reorganization of the school system is made by the Storthing. 
It must come soon. 



Norway 275 

THE UNIVERSITY 

Organization. — Norway has only one university, the Royal 
Friedrich University, which was founded in 181 1. This in- 
stitution is located in Christiania, the national capital. The 
work of the university is organized under five distinct 
departments: theology, law, medicine, history-philology- 
philosophy, and mathematics-science. Each faculty elects 
a dean, and the five deans constitute the University Board 
of Management. The professors are appointed by the 
king. By a special provision a foreigner may be appointed 
to a professorship. 

Admission to the University. — The leaving examination 
from the gymnasium admits to the university. The prepar- 
atory course consists of five years in the primary school, four 
years in the gymnasium, a total of twelve years. The extent 
of this preparation for admission to the university is the same 
as is required in the schools of the United States, but, in Nor- 
way, it is broken into three distinct periods, five in the pri- 
mary, four in the middle school, and three in the gymnasium. 
In this latter respect the Norwegian system has some merits 
not possessed by the American system. The enrollment in 
the university is about 1500 students. 

Maintenance. — The instruction in the university is free, 
which is a noticeable contrast with the condition in the second- 
ary schools, where fees are universally charged. The uni- 
versity has a fixed income of 114,796 Kroner, and a state sub- 
sidy of 1,214,345 Kroner. The university library, which is 
the seat of the national library, has 350,000 volumes. 

Degrees. — All students, before entering for the examina- 
tion for any degree, must pass the examen philosophicum, 
the preparation for which usually requires two or three years 



276 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

of university work. The average time required for the various 
degrees is : theology, 9 years ; law, 8 ; medicine, 14 ; philol- 
ogy, 10; real students, 10. To an American student these 
terms doubtless seem very long. They are even longer than 
the combined terms of four years required for the bachelor's 
degree and the three or four years required for the doctorate. 
Training of Teachers and Ministers. — The university pro- 
vides for the professional training of teachers and ministers. 
A pedagogical seminary for the training of teachers is attached 
to the university. For the training of ministerial students 
the university maintains a department of theology. Through 
these two departments the Norwegian university exerts a 
great influence over the thought and ideals of the people of 
the nation. The university professors rank with the best in 
other countries, and their graduates pass into the highest 
scientific, professional, and business positions in the nation. 

THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

Primary Teachers. — For the training of teachers in the 
primary schools there are ten colleges, six of which are public 
and four private. The six public colleges are situated, one 
in each diocese. Instruction in the public colleges is free. In 
the private colleges, by aid of government grants, a number 
of free scholarships are established. The institutions are 
coeducational. The course has recently been extended from 
two years to three years. It consists of training, from a ped- 
agogical standpoint, in the subjects required in the normal plan 
for the primary schools, with a range somewhat parallel to that 
of the secondary schools. The aim is both cultural and pro- 
fessional. The observation and practice work of these courses 
is done in connection with the state primary and secondary 



Norway 277 

schools in the vicinity of the colleges, which provision, at best, 
is meager. 

Entrance Requirements. — To be admitted to these colleges, 
the applicants must be in their eighteenth year, of good moral 
character, must pass an examination in the work of the seven 
years' primary school course, and must also be a member of 
the Lutheran Church. Many of these applicants, at eighteen 
years of age, have had four or five years' more schooling than 
is required in the standard set by the examination. 

Leaving Examination. — Graduates of the teachers' colleges 
pass a leaving examination, which gives them a certificate 
to teach permanently in the primary schools of the towns and 
in the second division of the rural primary schools. These 
leaving examinations are prepared and conducted by an ex- 
amination committee of three members, whose additional 
function it is to superintend the instruction in the teachers' 
colleges. 

Teachers for Infant Grades. — For the training of teachers 
in the lower, or infant grades of the primary schools, there is 
a one-year course in special primary subjects, attached to the 
teachers' colleges. Those who complete this course are pre- 
pared to pass the entrance examination to the colleges, or the 
lower teachers' examination for appointment to the infant 
school in the country. For this same purpose the government 
grants aid to private preparatory courses, of which there are 
a score or more throughout the kingdom. 

In this connection it is noticeable that fully one third of 
the teaching positions are filled with temporary appointments 
without ayiy examination. This, of course, lessens the burdens 
on the teachers' colleges in which there are enrolled, in both 
private and public institutions, only about one thousand 



278 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

students. Norway is like other nations in this respect, — 
she needs more trained teachers. 

Training of Special Teachers. — For the training of teachers 
of special subjects, such as sewing, cooking, gymnastics, 
drawing, singing, writing, a short course of from five to six 
weeks is held in each of the dioceses. For the past 
twenty years, summer courses of twelve days or more 
have been held at the state university and at Bergen 
museum, the latter especially for primary teachers in natural 
science. To these provisions for the training of teachers, 
the government and many municipalities also make annual 
appropriations for traveling scholarships for primary school 
teachers. 

Training of Secondary Teachers. — The standard set for 
the highest grade of teachers in the secondary schools is fully 
eight years of training above that required for teachers in the 
primary schools. In order to be appointed to a permanent 
position in the secondary schools, the applicant is generally 
required to pass a theoretical teacher's examination, either in 
the language-history group, or the mathematical-science 
group of the university course. To aid students in prepara- 
tion for these positions, the government has made large an- 
nual appropriations. To further develop this training of 
secondary teachers, the Storthing, in 1907, established in con- 
nection with the university at Christiania a pedagogical 
seminary, which gives a course of six months for graduates 
of the university who choose the teaching profession. The 
instruction in this seminary course includes school hygiene, 
psychology, history of education, observation, and practice 
teaching. The purpose of those in charge of this pedagogical 
work is to apply modern theories and principles of education 



Norway 279 

to the improvement of the teachers and the schools as rapidly 
as conditions will allow. This movement in Norway is the 
same in kind, though not yet so extensive as the university 
training of secondary teachers in America. 

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 

Not an Agricultural Country. — Norway is noted for the 
provision she has made for educating her citizens in the 
native industries characteristic of her country, particularly 
in metals and wood and embroidery and lace work. But not 
until recently has she taken steps to develop agricultural edu- 
cation. This has been due, doubtless, to the fact that Norway 
is not distinctively an agricultural country, there being only 
about 25 per cent of her soil productive to agricultural pur- 
suits, and only about 4 per cent of that under full cultivation. 
The very great interest taken in the adaptation of her schools 
to local conditions, and the example of such work being done 
in other countries, as reported by educational commissions, 
has resulted in the last decade in a wide extension of agricul- 
tural education in Norway. 

Early Interest in Agriculture. — It is true that for nearly a 
hundred years, since 1825, Norway has had a system of local 
agricultural schools which has grown in numbers to include 
one or more in each of seventeen of the twenty counties. 
But these, by a recent investigation, have been shown to be in 
a very unsatisfactory condition. The movement for reorgani- 
zation is in the direction of larger appropriations, closer state 
supervision, and a more thorough appHcation of modern 
scientific knowledge to farm work. 

Present System of Agriculture. — The present system of 
agricultural education consists of a central institution, the 



28o Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

State Agricultural Academy at Aas, established in 1897, and 
the seventeen or more local county schools. 

The State Agricultural Academy has a one-year general 
course in the scientific subjects underlying agriculture, and, 
in addition, courses in the main departments, such as agri- 
culture, gardening, dairying, silviculture, etc. 

The local county schools are conducted under the depart- 
ment of agriculture. These local schools offer a course of 
study, covering from one to two years, in the elementary 
science and practice of farming, adapted to their respective 
districts. 

Movable Agricultural Schools. — Since 191 1, "movable 
agricultural schools," for small farmers, have been extensively 
developed, in which are offered two three-months' courses in 
different farming sections. The department of agriculture 
has prepared a special plan for these schools, emphasizing 
the following provisions: (i) the work is to be for small 
farmers; (2) the teachers are to be specially trained and well 
equipped with necessary demonstration material ; (3) the 
schools are to be conducted from three to four hours a day, 
for one or two weeks, in the schoolhouses throughout the 
farming communities ; (4) the course of study must be prac- 
tical, interesting, flexible, and methodical ; (5) the instruction 
must be free, the expense being met by the state, county, and 
community. 

This scheme went into operation during the year 19 13, 
with 43 courses offered and with a good attendance, reaching 
in some places 200. The work has awakened much enthu- 
siasm among the farmers and has been very satisfactory to 
the traveling teachers. 

The department is further recommending the reorganization 



Norway 281 

of the course of study at the State Agricultural Academy, 
with special reference to the incorporation of a course of study 
for the training of teachers for the local county schools. The 
department is also urging the establishment of special schools 
to train " traveling teachers," looking soon to the building 
of permanent schools for the farmers to take the place of the 
" movable schools." 

RURAL EDUCATION FOR ADULTS 

Folk High Schools. — One of the recent improvements 
that has come to Norway is the transplantation on her soil 
of the Danish rural high school for adults, that hitherto 
neglected fourth of her population, who for generations have 
wrested a scanty living from " stony or water-logged pastures," 
living a life, dull and hopeless, without the culture of books 
or the inspiration of new and better methods of work, cheered 
only by a simple religious faith, and that often too weak to 
resist the allurements of a life that is too largely physical. 
Writing of the Norwegian peasant, past and present, one 
writer says, " with the emancipation of this country, in 1905, 
a new spirit appears to have entered the frost-bound old heart ; 
and I have almost come to the conclusion that he is about to 
seize the opportunity and rise to the level of the occasion. His 
sons are more eager to enter the schools of agriculture, and are 
forming themselves into associations that will keep them away 
from the seductions of itinerant and lawless hawkers, the too 
frequent open-air dance, and that general tendency to moral 
drift which marked him in the hooligan days of his youth." 

A kind of education that will place the rural population 
more nearly on the intellectual level with the urban people, 
and yet not turn them away from the country, is the solvent 



282 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

that society, everywhere, is searching for these days. The 
Scandinavian countries are making worthy contributions to 
this cause. 

Ole Vig stirred the Norwegian people as Grundtvig roused 
the Danes. As a result, Norwegian educators went to Den- 
mark and studied the Danish rural high school, and, returning, 
estabhshed the first school of this type in 1864, the Vairheim 
folk high school founded by Christopher Brunn. At first 
these schools were not received favorably by the conservative 
advocates of the existing county continuation schools, but 
now the prejudice is rapidly turning into enthusiastic 
support. Though privately owned, the schools are receiving 
liberal aid from the state. 

The aim of these schools in not to train the young men and 
women for any particular vocation but to influence person- 
ality and to inspire love of country, vernacular, and rural 
life. These schools are decidedly democratic and cooperative 
in their management ; the students Hve together at the school, 
as a family, under the care of the manager and his wife. The 
school term for men is from six to seven months, during the 
season when they can best be spared from the farm ; for 
women, it is three months in the summer. There are only 
about fifteen such schools in Norway and these are attended 
by fewer than a thousand students. But the folk spirit 
everywhere is influencing education in Norway, as in other 
countries, and, as a result, this number of folk high schools 
will doubtless be increased. 

Workingmen's Colleges. — Adult men and women of the 
working class, in city as well as in the country, are being pro- 
vided with higher schools for instruction in elementary sub- 
jects of social Hfe and commercial thought as well as of general 



Norway ' 283 

culture. Since the establishment of the first workingman's 
college at Christiania in 1885, the movement has spread 
rapidly. At present there are several score of these schools 
in existence, about one fourth of which are in the country. 
These colleges receive from the state one half as much as is 
given by the municipalities, or other sources, supporting 
them. The method of instruction is mainly by lectures, freely 
interspersed with discussions. The lecturers are well-trained 
men, drawn from the professions and trades in which the stu- 
dents of the colleges are interested. 

National Aim. — The several types of schools for adults 
are a vital factor in the great nationahzation movement in 
Norway. They are helping to make the returns from lands 
and other economic sources commensurate with the needs of the 
people, a condition very necessary for an abiding love of father- 
land. Schools for the people and improved means of commu- 
nication, one with another, will tend to thrift and happiness. 
Norway is said to be better suppUed with telephones than any 
other country in the world. Practically every private house 
has its telephone, marking the progress of civilization, not- 
withstanding the fact that homes are often widely separated 
by the miles of uninhabitable broken country. 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

Interest in Arts and Crafts. — Norway is noted for the ample 
provision she makes for various kinds of industrial, profes- 
sional, and technical training in the arts and crafts, charac- 
teristic of her nation. In the main she has two types of such 
schools : (i) lower technical schools, following the primary 
school, and (2) higher technical schools, following the middle 
school. These schools have courses, varying from one to 



284 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

four years for both men and women, in all kinds of rural and 
city industries and professions. The leading schools of these 
types are located at Christiania, Bergen, Trondhjem, Skions- 
fjorden, Kongsberg, and Stavanger. Many of these schools 
have grown up in the response to local needs to train men and 
women already engaged in the vocations and who cannot 
afford to give up their employment to go elsewhere for train- 
ing. They bless the individual, the trade, and society. 

Higher Technical Education. — There are three main 
schools of this class designed for the special purpose of giving 
theoretical and technical training to those who choose a 
technical or professional career: (i) The Royal Art and 
Industrial School in Christiania, (2) A School of Mechanics 
Arts and Chemistry at Bergen, (3) The Engineering College 
and Institute of Technology at Trondhjem. 

These schools are all municipal, but under the direction of 
the Department of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, and 
are supported jointly by the students' fees and communal 
and state appropriations. 

CONTINUATION SCHOOLS OF SECONDARY RANK 

Types of Continuation Schools. — There are four inde- 
pendent types of continuation schools for pupils of secondary 
age. 

I. Continuation Schools. — For young people who have 
completed the primary school and who have been out of school 
for a year or so and desire to review, there is a continuation 
school with a one-year or two-year course. There are between 
150 and 200 of these schools, with an enrollment of about 3000 
students, both male and female. The age of these children is 
from fourteen to eighteen. The term is from one to six months. 



Norway 285 

The aim of the school is to extend the pupils' vision by 
further work in the subjects of the parish school. These 
subjects are : Norwegian, arithmetic, history, etc. About 
65 per cent of the expenses of these schools is met from 
public funds. 

II. Evening schools, for students seventeen to nineteen years 
of age, offer various lines of instruction, for fifty hours during 
the year. There are as many as half a thousand of these 
schools with an enrollment of about 9000 students. The 
state pays about 88 per cent of the expenses. 

III. County schools, maintained at public expense, em- 
phasize subjects of practical or technical value ; for men, 
drawing and sloyd ; for women, domestic art and science. 
There are about forty of these schools with an enrollment 
of between 1500 and 2000 students. The course of study 
is that of the primary school, extended and varied for prac- 
tical purposes. It covers a period of two years. Both co- 
educational and separate schools of this type exist. The 
boys' courses last six or seven months, and the girls' courses 
three or four months. Many of these schools, in past years, 
were ambulatory, remaining in a place only one or two years, 
then moving elsewhere. But in recent years they are be- 
coming fixed. The general character of these schools has 
gradually changed from the aristocratic, scholastic, prepara- 
tory type to that of a more practical nature, under the in- 
fluence of the spirit that has built up beside them the people's 
high schools. 

THE PROBLEM OF COEDUCATION 

Relation to Social Life. — The problem of coeducation, 
in the reconstruction of educational and social life, has been a 



286 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

real live one in Norway ever since 1877, when the Depart- 
ment of Education was first petitioned to permit girls to take 
the middle school examination. The department then thought 
that such an action would place the education of girls out- 
side the woman's sphere. An act of the Storthing in 1884 es- 
tabHshed a middle school of a coeducational character, under 
state aid, and, thereby, gave a lasting impetus to coeduca- 
tion in secondary schools. Following this action, the state 
Department of Education, in 1890, requested a report from 
schools that had tried coeducation, as a means of determining 
the merits or demerits of the system. The reports were 
unanimous in the claim that the plan was sound from the stand- 
point of both economy and pedagogy. A royal commission 
appointed in 1890 to revise regulations governing the higher 
schools considered that experience justified coeducation, but 
the commission was divided on the subject of separate pro- 
grams of study for boys and girls in coeducation schools. 

Prevalence of Coeducation. — An extensive report on the 
coeducation movement was presented in 1895 by Hulda 
Hansen to the Department of Education and Ecclesiastical 
Affairs, in which it is shown that : (i) many of the middle schools 
had become coeducational ; (2) many reforms had been made 
in the separate girls' schools ; (3) examination privileges had 
been extended to the girls of the middle schools ; (4) practi- 
cally the same course of study is pursued by both boys and 
girls. 

The situation at present, 191 6, shows that the struggle for 
coeducation has won a complete victory. Both the middle 
school and the gymnasium are coeducational, with few ex- 
ceptions, and women are admitted to the university and 
teachers' colleges with the men. 



Norway 287 

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

Legal Requirement. — The subject of religion is the only 
one in the curriculum in which the standard of instruction 
is fixed by law. In this subject, the aim set up is a thorough 
knowledge of the main substance of Bible history, church 
history, and the catechism, according to the Evangelical 
Lutheran creed. In the primary schools, religion receives 
from 7 to 3 hours per week, decreasing from the lower to the 
highest class ; in the middle school and the Gymnasium, i 
to 2 hours ; and proportionally in the teachers' colleges and 
other schools. 

Provision is made in the law by which parents who do not 
belong to the state church may have their children excused 
from the religious instruction. The teachers must belong 
to the state church and the schools are supervised by the 
church. This, in short, is the situation in Norway and has 
been since the days of the Lutheran reformation. Ninety-seven 
per cent of the people are Lutherans and are all accustomed to 
the state system of religious instruction. It is both a success 
and a failure, just as every system of religious instruction is, 
though from different angles. 

Results. — In the lower grades where the children are most 
impressionable and are alive with instructive curiosity, and 
where the type of teacher is of a more adaptable and impres- 
sive nature, and where the instruction is personal and con- 
crete in method, there the results are unquestionably good. 
But, in the higher grades, these favorable conditions change, 
more or less, and the work becomes formal and the teacher 
lifeless and indifferent, making the effect upon the pupil, 
at least questionable if not positively harmful, by creating 
a spirit of indifference, if not a disUke, to things religious. It 



288 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

might be compared to being compelled to eat when one is 
not hungry, or when the food is not well served. So far as 
the teacher is concerned, the state requirement makes religion, 
for her, a part of her vocational training, rather than a part 
of her inner life. Then, too, religious instruction by a forced 
system loses that zest, that newness and freshness, that in- 
terest and force which characterize the voluntary method in 
which the selected instructors use all possible initiative in 
device and method to impress a willing hstener. That is, 
in proportion as religious instruction becomes formal, to that 
extent it loses its moral value. MoraUty and reHgion are 
life, not precept. The subject matter and method of reli- 
gious instruction needs to be continuously readjusted to the 
ever varying social conditions of a people. This, Norway 
has been slow to make, until within the last few years. But, 
nevertheless, the Norwegians have remained Lutherans. The 
religious aims of their school laws are correct. It is only 
toward the results and the methods of producing them that 
criticisms could be justly directed. 

Moral Training through Social Relations. — For the strictly 
ethical or moral training, the Norwegian system places much 
stress upon the use of the mother language and history, in 
which they find much to deepen and ennoble the soul Hfe of 
the young and to inspire in them a lofty spirit of patriotism 
and filial reverence. In recent years, for various reasons, 
the home is coming closer to the school and the two are help- 
ing each other. Coeducation in secondary schools and equal 
suffrage for men and women are enabhng the sexes to better 
understand and sympathize with each other. Education for 
the adult classes is broadening their lives and enriching them 
with radiant hope. The church, under the impulse of a new 



Norway 289 

religious consciousness, is reconstructing its organization and 
methods. The closer touch with the thought and culture 
of other countries of the world is quickening the social, moral, 
and religious intelligence of Norwegian leaders in church and 
state. All of these influences, working simultaneously, har- 
moniously, and continuously, will save to the nation the Nor- 
wegian boys and girls for the highest type of citizenship. But 
no country with an independent church can turn to Norway 
with much assurance of finding there a panacea for moral and 
religious decline. 

Relations of the Church to Religious Education. — The 
characteristic feature of church administration in Norway 
is its close connection with other national affairs, and especially 
to the schools. The Storthing legislates for the church, and 
the church administration is through the Department of 
Ecclesiastical Affairs, which also administers education. 
The king appoints the clergy and determines the service and 
the Hturgy of the church. Such a state church naturally 
tends to conservatism, and to an indifferent and unsympa- 
thetic relation between the mass of the people and the higher 
officials of the state church, who are inevitably withdrawn 
from the people by the burden of administrative affairs. Out 
of this condition has grown up in Norway a long-time per- 
sistent attempt to reorganize the church so as to give more 
initiative to the local congregations and to the schools. The 
pietistic revivalistic movement of the middle of the 19th 
century favored this plan of reorganization, but unfortu- 
nately the intellectual tendency of this movement was towards 
national isolation from the religious thought and culture of 
foreign countries. This had a tendency to drive the more 
intellectual classes into the camps of the free thinkers from 



290 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

England and France, resulting in a new non-christian culture — 
the effect of which has been to put the church thinking and to 
searching for remedies, some of which she is finding in sug- 
gestions from foreign religious systems, such as those of Ger- 
many and England, others, she is finding in the utilization of 
the new social conditions growing up within her own nation. 
For instance, she has made use of the complete democratiza- 
tion of her government in recent years, as a means of bringing 
together the Conservatives and the Progressives in the church 
in a movement towards reorganization in church control 
with the following special features: (i) local ecclesiastical 
autonomy for church congregations, (2) a local church council 
to take the place of the county board that is too much con- 
cerned with secular matters, (3) the church and the state to 
continue united, (4) recognition of private theological facul- 
ties on the same basis as the theological faculty of the uni- 
versity. 

The concession of these two elements, local control and pri- 
vate initiative, by the conservatives, will doubtless save the 
church as a state institution, through the possibiHty that such 
a change would bring for the introduction into Norwegian 
religious thought the contemporaneous religious thought and 
culture, from other countries of the world. 

Recognition of Non-State Theological Education. — A 
recent step in this movement was the recognition by the gov- 
ernment in 1 91 3 of the private theological faculty, established 
by popular subscription in 1907. This recognition grants 
to their clerical candidates the right of examination on the 
same basis as those from the theological department of the 
state university. An illustration of outside influences help- 
ing to reshape thought and attitude in the Norwegian church, 



Norway 291 

is the work of the " World's Student Christian Federation," 
which for twenty years has been doing a service of great ad- 
vantage, as conceded by even the conservatives, who are in- 
telHgently looking to Anglo-Saxon Christendom for inspira- 
tion and help. 

Educational Influence of the University Chair of Theology. 
— In recent years, the problem of religious education has 
been complicated by the controversy over the filling of the 
chair of systematic theology in the University in Christiania. 
This position is so important that practically every minister 
in the land has to sit at the feet of its incumbent, and to a 
great extent the religious education in the schools is directed 
by this ecclesiastical position. 

The honor attached to the position is indicated by the fact 
that it is filled by competitive examination. In two suc- 
cessive examinations, the first open to the ministers of the 
realm, the second open to ministers of all Scandinavia, the 
renowned scholar, Dr. Ording, won. He, being a liberal in 
theology, was bitterly opposed by the conservatives, but as 
warmly endorsed by the liberals, including such a man as 
Bjornson. He was then temporarily appointed, but his 
appointment was immediately followed by the resignation 
of the Minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs and by 
Dr. Odlund, a member of the university faculty, who led the 
conservatives in their fight against Dr. Ording. This was 
the situation in 1906, since when the controversy has continued 
with more or less warmth. 

Lutheran Influence in America. — An illustration of the 
strength of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, to 
which country more than 500,000 Norwegians have emigrated, 
is found in Iowa. In this state, in 191 5, there were ninety- 



292 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

one pastors and one hundred and eighty-six congregations, 
with a membership of 47,426, and also three institutions of 
learning and two institutions of mercy. 

The Danish Lutherans have in this same state a member- 
ship of 9079 and the Swedish Lutherans 20,000, which, with 
the Norwegian Lutherans, makes a total of 76,505 Scandi- 
navian Lutherans in this one American state. 

The independence and the prosperity of these large numbers 
of the Lutheran faith, in the American republic, doubtless 
has its reflex influence upon the parent church in Norway, 
as a factor in their educational problem. 

Modifying Influences in Religious Education. — In Norway, 
other denominations than the Lutheran are represented as 
follows : Methodists, 10,986 ; Baptists, 7659 ; Catholics, 
2046; Mormons, 714; Quakers, 143 ; making a total of only 
21,548 dissenters, or 9 per cent in the whole population of 
2,391,782. Evidently the spirit of unrest and Hberalism in 
the Norwegian Lutheran Church is not due to the numbers 
of dissenters in her realm, but rather to the flood of religious 
sentiment from her world environment and to the native 
Norwegian mind that is delicately sensitive to a democratic 
suggestion. The modifications and improvements in all 
phases of secular education in the schools of the kingdom and 
the closer social relations with the peoples and thought of 
other nations is having its effect upon the rehgious education 
in church, school, and home. 

PRIVATE INITIATIVE IN NORWEGIAN EDUCATION 

School Law Recognizes Private Institutions. — A striking 
feature in Norwegian education is the prevalence of private 
institutions, either with or without state recognition or aid. 



Norway 293 

This condition seems to be due to the genius of the people, 
who cherish and foster the rights of individual initiative. The 
compulsory school law does not apply to the state schools 
only, but permits attendance upon private schools, in lieu 
thereof, under proper inspection. The free tuition in state 
schools would seem to put the private schools at a disad- 
vantage, but they meet this by superior location, better 
equipment, choice of faculty, freedom of adjustment, etc., 
encouraged by state recognition in the form of examination 
privileges and state grants or private endowment, and also, 
by the patronage of the well-to-do classes. 

Ratio of Private and Public Schools. — An illustration of 
the extent to which private schools divide the field with the 
state is shown by the following statistics, for the year 1910, 
the last available : secondary schools, 89 (public, 65 ; private, 
24) ; normal schools, 10 (public, 6, private, 4). 

In Christiania alone there were 89 private schools of the 
unrecognized class, with an enrollment of 3550 students. In 
this city, in 1900, there were 5006 pupils in the recogiiized 
private schools. It is impossible to obtain statistics for a 
clear and accurate comparison of the work of the private and 
public schools in Norway. The private schools, because 
of their greater freedom and flexibility, have been important 
factors in bringing about the modifications in the pubHc 
schools, in harmony with modern ideas. Another important 
influence of the private school is to keep the public tax down, 
and this must be borne in mind in comparing the annual 
state appropriations per capita for school expenses in Norway 
with that of other countries. 

Private Initiative Safeguards Highest Social Interests. — 
Should the state withdraw its aid from all private schools, 



294 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

they would, as a consequence, be seriously crippled and many 
of them would have to close up, or consolidate. But Norway 
is having troubles with the exclusive control of the church 
as a state institution, and her people, naturally conservative, 
are not much inclined toward an exclusive state system of 
schools. Even in religious training, as is emphasized else- 
where, the state is recognizing private initiative, as shown in 
her approval in 1913 of a private theological faculty for the 
training of ministers. The general attitude of mind relative 
to private initiative in Norwegian education, is well expressed 
by Rektor D. F. Knudsen, " I must in one word maintain 
that the intelligent interests that the higher school stands 
for are best safeguarded through a system of state, communal, 
and private schools ; each has its advantages and defects ; 
cooperation can best secure that the special advantage of 
each shall exercise its full effect and that the corresponding 
defects shall be neutralized. So far as I know, there is no 
nation that has been willing or able to dispense with private 
initiative, which is like a free man as compared with one 
bound hand and feet, like a creature that moves by the side 
of one fast chained to the ground." 

Topics foe Further Study 

1. Write a thesis on the phases of education in the present Norwe- 
gian system due to the influence of the sixteenth century reformation. 

2. Make a study of the development of the Landsmaal movement. 

3. Make a pictogram of the school system in your state and compare 
it with the pictogram of the Norwegian school system. 

4. Compare the special provisions for rural education in your state 
with those in Norway. 

5. How could the American elementary and secondary schools be 



Norway 295 

reorganized so as to provide the advantages offered by the Norwegian 
middle school ? 

6. On the basis of population, compare the enrollment in the one 
Norwegian university with the average enrollment in all of the uni- 
versities in the United States, using the Carnegie list. 

7. Account for the fact that 75 per cent of the rural teachers in Nor- 
way are men, and compare the situation with that in your own state. 

8. To what extent do international relationships influence a nation's 
school system ? Illustrate from Norway. 

9. Write a thesis on the advantages and disadvantages of religious 
education in state schools, using the conditions in the three Scandinavian 
countries as illustrations. 

10. Make a comparison between the extent to which the educational 
work in your state is done by private institutions and the similar facts 
in Norway. 

Special Bibliography 

Anderson, D. A. The School System of Norway, 1913, Richard G. 

Badger, The Gorham Press, Boston. 
Anderson, Otto. Moral Instruction and Training in Norway, in papers 

edited by W. E. Sadler, Vol. II. 
Education in Norway, in English Board of Education Reports, 1902, 

London. 
Heiberg, J. V. Education in Norway in 1900. 
MiCHELET, S., D. D. The Present Theological Crisis in the Church of 

Norway. 
Norwegian Education, Special Phases, United States Commissioner of 

Education, Reports from 1889 to 191 5, Washington, D. C. 
Ogg, F. a. The Governments of Europe, Norway, 1914, The Macmil- 

lans, New York. 
Smith, Anna Tolman. Education in Norway, 1913, Monroe's Cyclo- 
pedia of Education, Vol. IV, 19, The Macmillans, New York. 
Thorton, J. S. The State Leaving Examination in Norway. 



SWEDEN 
CHAPTER IX 

GEOGRAPHY AND INDUSTRIES 

Geography. — Sweden is the eastern and larger section 
of the Scandinavian Peninsula and comprises an area 
of about 172,000 square miles, occupied by a population of 
about five and one half millions of people. The surface of 
Sweden is divided by nature into four main physical divi- 
sions — the northern highlands, which is the largest dis- 
trict and includes the finest scenery ; the central lowlands, 
consisting of level, fertile plains of clay, covered with woods 
and dotted with lakes, the largest of which are the four great 
lakes, Vener, Vetter, Maloe, and Hjelman — all with beauti- 
ful scenery, especially in the case of Maloe, which Ues in the 
environs of the city of Stockholm ; the southern highlands 
(Smaland Highland) in the south and southeast, which are 
characterized by forest-clad undulations, small lakes, and 
peat mosses with a general elevation of from 300 feet to 600 
feet ; and fourth, the plains of Skane, which comprise the 
southward projection of the peninsula and consist of rich, 
level plains of meadows and cultivated lands, broken here 
and there by beech wood and sHght ridges with occasional 
elevations of about 700 feet. 

Of the total area of Sweden, about one twelfth, or 14,000 
square miles, are under water, there being no country, other 
than Finland, so full of lakes. These lakes are drained to the 

296 



Sweden 297 

seas by many rivers, some of which are of considerable com- 
mercial and industrial consequence. 

Almost the entire coast of Sweden, which is broken here 
and there with deep fjords, is sheltered from the open sea by 
a fringe of islands which has a width of forty-five miles where 
it skirts the city of Stockholm, making a famous beautiful 
approach to the nation's capital. 

Industries. — The main industries are agriculture, forestry, 
fisheries, manufactures, mining, and commerce. More than 
one half of the entire population are engaged in agriculture 
and animal breeding, although only about 12 per cent of the 
total land area is arable. Under a system of legal parceling, 
introduced in 1827 and slowly carried out during the nine- 
teenth century, the average size of a farm is 25 acres or less. 
It is estimated that only about 15 per cent of the farms are 
operated by tenants. Since 1900 a department of agriculture, 
and a system of schools and societies, have existed for the 
further development of this industry. 

Forestry is quite well developed and protected by conserv- 
ative legislation and by instruction for forestry service in 
schools of forestry and in the Institute of Forestry at Stock- 
holm. Approximately one half of the area of Sweden is under 
forests, of which one third are pubHc and two thirds private. 

The pubKc forests are administered through the ofhce of 
the national forest service, and the private forests, protected 
by the legislation of 1903, administered by local forest con- 
servation boards. 

The sea and river fisheries are a considerable source of 
wealth but are carried on mainly by private enterprises under 
the inspection of a member of the board of agriculture. 

The mining industry is of very high importance and in- 



298 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

eludes iron, copper, gold, lead, and coal. The mining ad- 
ministration is directed by a special bureau of the board of 
trade and is encouraged and developed through special 
mining education in government and private schools of min- 
ing. 

The most important manufacturing industries, in the order 
of output are : iron industries, saw-milling, cloth mills 
and factories, flour mills, sugar works, which, with the minor 
industries, turn out about £72,000,000 of goods annually. 

In commerce, Sweden exports about £30,000,000 and 
imports about £40,000,000 annually, in her relations mainly 
with England, Germany, France, Norway, and Denmark, 
the leading enlightened nations of Europe, whose educational 
and industrial enterprises stimulate Sweden to a modern and 
scientific development of her internal resources and possi- 
bilities. 

HISTORIC SKETCH 

The earliest historical information concerning Sweden 
is given by Tacitus, in the " Germania," published at the close 
of the first century a.d. Tacitus says that they were gov- 
erned by a king whose power was absolute. And in the 
sixteenth century, the Gothic historian Jordanes tells of the 
warlike and trading characteristics of these people. Likewise, 
the Anglo-Saxon power, "Beowulf," in the same period gives 
valuable information of Swedish affairs. 

The establishment of Christianity, begun in 830 by Bishop 
Ausgar, was fully accomplished in 1008, when the king him- 
self was baptized into this faith by Sigfrid. Seven hundred 
years later, during the reign of Adolphus I (1523-60), came 
the breach with Rome and the establishment of the Lutheran 



Sweden 299 

Church in 1544. This religious reformation was largely 
the work of the great and strong man, Gustavus, who acting 
contrary to the religious instincts of the majority of Swedish 
people, broke with the ecclesiastical traditions for political 
and economical reasons. The council of Trent, which de- 
clared the Bible and tradition to be equally authoritative 
sources of Christian doctrine, and later the action of the Swed- 
ish Riksdag, in 1604, which excluded CathoUcs from the suc- 
cession to the throne, ended the struggle with Lutheranism 
firmly estabUshed in Sweden. 

For two and a half centuries following, the struggle shifted 
from rehgion to that between monarchy and democracy — 
a social revolution and evolution with all the characteristics 
of similar movements in other European countries. 

THE GOVERNMENT 

General Character. — The present government of Sweden 
is based on the law of 1809, variously modified and extended 
to meet the demands of the universal ideas of government 
in the nineteenth century. The constitution of Sweden is said 
to be one of the most elaborate of its kind in existence. The 
form of government is that of a hereditary constitutional 
monarchy, the head of which is a king, who is required to 
belong to the Lutheran Church. With him alone rests the 
right of ultimate decision in governmental affairs. 

Suffrage. — In 1907 universal manhood suffrage was 
introduced and this was followed in 191 2 by the passage of a 
bill in whose terms every Swede, both men and women, over 
twenty-four years of age and free from legal disabilities, may 
vote for members of the lower chambers. 

Local Government. — For the purpose of local govern- 



300 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

merit, Sweden is divided into twenty-five provinces, or coun- 
ties, one of which is the city of Stockholm. The central 
and local governments are combined through a local assem- 
bly elected by the people and presided over by a member 
appointed by the crown. 

Likewise, each rural parish and each town is a self-govern- 
ing commune, having its own assembly, which is composed 
of all taxpayers. 

Primary education and church affairs are directed by the 
parish assemblies, presided over by the pastor of the parish, 
thus maintaining an intimate relation between the church 
and education. 

ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION 

Early in the nineteenth century the Swedish people became 
deeply interested in the benefit of education to the mass of 
the people and began a wide movement for the erection of 
schools to meet this need. In the year 1842, a school statute 
made elementary education compulsory and required each 
parish to maintain at least one elementary school. This 
law was modified in 1872 and took its present shape in the 
enactment of 1897, the law now in force. 

Elementary Schools. — The elementary schools consist of : 
(i) the infant schools for children six to eight years of age, 
and (2) the elementary school proper for children eight to 
twelve years of age. Above the elementary school is a new 
type of school instituted in 1909, the mellanskolor, or the inter- 
mediate school, which is supported by the community with 
some aid from the state. The course of study in the inter- 
mediate school covers four years and is designed to meet the 
needs in a practical way of the towns and villages that have 



Sweden 301 

grown up recently and did not have, therefore, a secondary- 
school of the old type. 

Secondary Schools. — An earlier law, that of 1904, reor- 
ganized secondary education by establishing two kinds of 
public secondary schools : (i) a realskolor, or modern school, 
coeducational, following the first three years of the elementary 
school with a six-year course, and (2) a gymnasium, following 
the fifth year of the realskolor with a four-year course, for 
boys only. From the gymnasium pupils pass into the uni- 
versity and technical schools. 

Continuation Schools. — Continuation schools of various 
forms and different degrees of advancement exist for stu- 
dents who cannot continue in the conventional courses. At 
the end of the six-year elementary school a continuation 
course, consisting of 180 hours, is given on certain evenings 
of the week for students who desire to enter some trade. 

There are also higher classes in the elementary schools 
in both city and country in which students, dropping out 
for vocational purposes, may continue their schooling. Like- 
wise there are continuation courses following the middle 
school and in the modern school. 

Private Schools. — In addition to this general plan of state 
schools there are many private schools of secondary rank 
that receive state aid and are under state supervision. Of 
this type there are four for boys, six coeducational, and 
about eighty for girls. All such schools are under state 
supervision. 

Teachers' Training Schools. — Training colleges for teach- 
ers are based on a thorough elementary course and they cover 
four years of work. A recent statute of 1913 has raised the 
standard of admission to these schools. For the training 



302 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

of women teachers there are the State Secondary Normal 
School for girls, the Higher Training College for Women 
Teachers — both state institutions — • and five private train- 
ing colleges for women. To these must be added the rural 
high schools for adults, which offer a one-year or two-year 
course for teachers. 

Finally the system is rounded out by schools for the defec- 
tives — the bhnd, the deaf, and idiots. 

ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 

The Elementary Schools. — The unit of school adminis- 
tration in Sweden is the parish, which constitutes a school 
district and is under the legislative authority of the church 
assembly. This intimate relation of church and school is 
the modified continuation of the absolute ecclesiastical con- 
trol of education in the middle ages, before the state had 
begun to assume the responsibility for the education of the 
people. The school board consists of four members, either 
male or female, chosen by the church assembly, and presided 
over by the parish rector, who is ex officio a member of the 
board. The duties of the board pertain mainly to the busi- 
ness and executive work of the school. Each district must 
conduct at least one elementary school and in some districts 
there are what are known as minor common schools, with a 
smaller teaching staff, and a more restricted course, for chil- 
dren who cannot, for geographical reasons, attend the regular 
school. There are also continuation schools for those who have 
completed the elementary schools and have entered some trade. 

Once a year, at least, the teaching staff is called together 
for a conference, by the president of the board, with whom they 
consider the problems of interest to the schools of the district. 



Sweden 303 

The school board is also charged with the local inspection 
of the schools, and for this purpose, by permission of the 
church assembly, may elect a requisite number of head teach- 
ers and a communal school inspector for the district. 

Above these district boards are diocesan boards who also 
superintend within their respective district the institutions 
designed for popular instruction. 

Finally, the state conducts its own inspection through 
a stafif of elementary school inspectors, appointed by the 
government, for six years. There are at present forty-seven 
such inspectors. Their chief duties consist in : (i) ascertain- 
ing the needs of the schools and reporting these to the 
district boards, or, if necessary, to the diocesan boards ; 
(2) to investigate the petition of school boards for state 
grants ; and (3) at the close of their six years' term to make 
to the Ecclesiastical and Education Department a full report 
for publication and distribution to all school officials for 
their future guidance. 

A recent statute of 1913 established a new supervisory 
board for the elementary schools, with power to centralize 
the administration of elementary education, but this statute 
practically left unmodified the diocesan and local boards, 
and the inspectorship. But as to the inspectorship, the reform 
movement looks in the early future to freeing the inspectors 
from all duties except the inspection of schools. 

Secondary Education. — All public schools and the private 
secondary schools, receiving state recognition, are under 
the supervision of a state board, consisting of five members, 
as inaugurated by the reform school law of 1904. The duty 
of this board is to visit and inspect the secondary schools of 
the county. 



304 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The work of this supervisory board comes under the central 
supervision of the Ecclesiastical Department, just as do all 
other divisions of education. 

Each pubHc secondary school is presided over by a rektor, 
or principal, who receives his appointment by the govern- 
ment upon the nomination of the supervisory board. 

All statutes subsequent to that of 1904, that pertain to 
secondary education, have left the administration of the 
schools under this supervisory board. However, in recent 
years there has been much discussion relative to the reorgani- 
zation of the plan of administration of both elementary 
and secondary schools looking to the coordination of the 
two. A royal committee, appointed in 1906, recommended 
in 191 2 the establishment of one supervisory board for all 
kinds of schools. On the basis of this recommendation the 
government laid before the Riksdag of 19 13 a bill, proposing 
a supervisory board for elementary schools and other institu- 
tions pertaining to popular education, which with the pre- 
viously existing supervisory board for the secondary schools 
should form two different divisions of one body under the 
direction of one chief. But the conservatives, fearful 
that such a union might result in the development of 
the secondary schools along hues of which they did not 
approve, secured a compromise, permitting the board for 
secondary schools to remain as it had been since its 
organization in 1904. Notwithstanding this compromise, 
the general tendency in the administration of education 
in Sweden is towards centralization. All such movements 
are for the purpose of securing greater efficiency through 
a more general equalization of educational advantages to 
all social classes. 



Sweden 305 

People's High Schools (Folkhogskolor) . — The people's 
high schools, though not owned by the state, are controlled 
in part by the system of state subsidies. The state, in grant- 
ing such subsidies, has reserved to itself the right of inspec- 
tion and has also prescribed that the school shall be controlled 
by a board, which, in most cases, is composed of representa- 
tives of the individuals and organizations providing the funds 
for the maintenance of the school. The school is under the 
immediate director, or a head master, who is usually a mem- 
ber of the board, and who by state requirement must be a 
university graduate. The state is very generous in grants 
and scholarships to these schools. 

Teachers' Training Schools. — The state also maintains a 
system of training schools for teachers, of which there are 
nine for men and six for women. These she controls by a 
system of rules and regulations regarding entr5,nce require- 
ments, course of study, faculty standard, and finishing exami^ 
nations. The system of administration of these training 
schools, in vogue for the past fifty years, was thoroughly 
reorganized by a statute of 191 3, the main purpose of which 
was to modernize the course of study and the methods of 
instruction to conform to the cultural, social, and economic 
needs of the present day. To meet these reforms, the Rigs- 
dag, in 1913, increased the yearly appropriations very ma- 
terially for the libraries, laboratories, and other materials of 
instruction. It is also the pohcy of the administration, as 
soon as it can be done, to increase the salaries of the instruc- 
tors and professors in the training schools so as to retain and 
continue to secure the most capable educators available in 
the Swedish school system. 

The Higher Training College for Women Teachers and 



3o6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the attached State Normal School for Girls, located at 
Stockholm, are governed by a board nominated by the 
government. 

The Higher Institutions. — The administration of the six 
institutions of university rank, above the system of higher 
secondary schools or gymnasia, Hke that of the other state 
schools, belongs to the Ecclesiastical Department. The 
supervision is either direct, as in the case of the state institu- 
tions — (i) Upsala, (2) Lund, (3) Caroline Institute, and (4) 
the Technical School — or through a system of subvention, 
as applies to the two private high schools of university rank, 
one at Stockholm and the other at Gothenberg. 

The statute of 1877, amended in 1891, provides for the 
universities and the Caroline Institute a chancellor, ap- 
pointed by the king upon the nomination of a board of elec- 
tors from the three institutions. 

The chancellor serves without salary, but with the assist- 
ance of a salaried secretary, and his duties pertain to the busi- 
ness of the university as it needs to be submitted to the state 
government. Likewise he is assisted by a vice-chancellor, 
whose duties pertain to the local academic authorities. The 
direct supervision of the academic work of the university is 
through a rector who is chosen, not by the state, but by the 
professors in the faculties. 

The supervision of the two private universities of Stock- 
holm and Gothenberg is confined to a special board of directors 
for each school, under the management of the chancellor of the 
state universities. The presidents of these two boards are 
appointed by the government, and the other members by 
the organizations concerned with their support. In each of 
these institutions as in the state universities, the academic 



Sweden 307 

work is directed by a rector, who is ex officio a member of the 
board of directors. 

The technical high school, established by royal letter in 
1825 and now under the statute of 1901, is supervised by a 
board, the president of which is appointed by the govern- 
ment, the other four members being chosen by the council 
of teachers at the school. The professors of this institution, 
one of whom is designated as director, are nominated by the 
board and appointed by the government. 

Schools for Abnormals. — In Sweden the education of the 
abnormals is as much a pubhc concern as is that of the nor- 
mals and in this phase of education is found the same double 
system of state and local control. 

The education of deaf-mutes, by the statute of 1889, is 
supervised through seven districts, each with its own board 
and at least one school. And for the blind, the statute of 
1899 makes their education obligatory and provides a thor- 
ough course of study in sufficient state institutions to supple- 
ment private benefactions in the care of this class of unfor- 
tunates. 

The state supervision of schools for idiots is through aid 
to a system of some thirty-six institutions, like homes or asy- 
lums, supported by local organizations. 

For the training of teachers, for each type of schools for 
abnormals, the state maintains at its own expense a training 
college. 

Popular Education (Folkskolor) . — The movement in 
Sweden for popular education took shape in the middle of 
the nineteenth century in a statute of 1842 embodying the 
principles which have guided the people to the present day in 
the elaboration of their school system. The Swedish people 



3o8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

hold in grateful memory the names of Count T. Rudenschold 
and F. F. Carlson, each of whom, in his day, through deep 
interest and zealous labors, the latter as ecclesiastical minister, 
carried through the Riksdag a comprehensive measure for 
the further development of compulsory common schools. 
The theories and plans of these early educators have been 
preserved in every essential particular in the final shaping 
of the present statutes of 1897 under which the elementary 
schools are operated. 

The elementary school consists, in full development, of (i) 
the two-year infant school, and (2) the four-year elementary 
school proper. 

Compulsory Age. — All parents are bound by law to send 
their children through these six grades, or to give them an 
equivalent education in some approved private school. The 
compulsory school age is counted from the seventh to the 
fourteenth birthdays, or the years in which those days occur. 
However, many parents start their children to school at six 
years of age. The instruction is free, as the district and the 
state jointly bear all the expenses. The result of the work in 
the elementary school is so efficient that Sweden, from the 
standpoint of Hteracy, ranks among the leading countries of 
the world. 

Course of Study. — The course of study in the elementary 
school is made uniform througn the guidance of a *' normal 
plan," issued by the Ecclesiastical Department, or Ministry 
of Education, though modified by the local board as condi- 
tions may demand. The school statute, however, presents 
certain obligatory subjects ; these are : religion, Swedish, 
arithmetic, geometry, geography, history, natural science, 
drawing, singing, gymnastics, gardening. 



Sweden 309 

The optional subjects taught somewhere in the course of 
study are : sloyd, domestic economy, bookkeeping, hygiene, 
and some foreign language, — either English or German. 

The school year, according to the " normal plan," extends 
over eight months, or thirty-four and one half weeks, with 
not to exceed thirty-six hours of work per week. In some 
districts, however, economic conditions are such at present 
that a division is made into wards and an " ambulatory 
school " made to serve the different wards, so that in such 
districts the pupils receive only about half of the prescribed 
maximum amount of schooling, a condition that is being 
rapidly eUminated. 

Continuation Schools. — Pupils who are prevented by 
poverty from remaining in school through the entire com- 
pulsory course are permitted to withdraw after meeting 
the prescribed " minimum " requirement. Such students are 
then urged to attend some continuation school. 

For students who have completed the elementary school 
course and do not plan to enter some higher school, provision 
is made in many places for a year of 180 hours of work in 
some form of free continuation schools. 

Since 1906, a vigorous effort has been under way by the 
Swedish educators to reorganize the elementary schools, 
especially through the reorganization of the training colleges 
for elementary school teachers. 

F^roposed Reorganization of Elementary Education. — The 
royal committee on elementary education, appointed in 
1906, made its final report in 1914, deahng specially with 
needed reforms in the people's schools and its extension by 
means of the continuation schools. Their recommenda- 
tions, briefly summarized, are as follows: (i) the schools of 



3IO Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the rural districts, in which about 40 per cent of the children 
of the kingdom receive their entire education, should be im- 
proved by special state appropriations for the increase of 
salaries, and better school plans and equipment ; (2) that the 
" normal plan of study " be reorganized for a course of seven 
years and that every child be required to remain in school 
until the end of the thirteenth year of age ; (3) that the method 
of instruction require less memorizing from books, that a 
better correlation of subjects be secured, and that the work 
of the first years be based upon the knowledge of one's own 
surroundings ; (4) that larger place be given to hygiene so as 
to secure for the child at an earlier age the formation of health- 
ful habits, and that special emphasis be placed upon the evil 
effects of the use of liquor and other narcotics ; and (5) that 
the course in religious instruction be so modified as to make 
the Bible itself the basis of instruction in the lower grades, 
the teaching of the catechism being deferred to the upper two 
years of the school course. 

Such modifications, it is believed, would bring the ele- 
mentary schools more nearly up to the place where they could 
meet the social and economic conditions of the day. 

For the continuation schools this same committee recom- 
mends a two-year course in heu of the present one-year 
course and this to be not a trade school, but a school which 
adopts the trade point of view in its instruction. 

GENESIS OF THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS 
Early Origin. — The secondary schools of Sweden, as in 
other European countries, had their beginning in the cathe- 
dral schools, monastery schools, and the town schools, long 
before the state undertook the problem of secondary educa- 



Swede f I 3 1 1 

tion. This situation has been a social inheritance, more or 
less perplexing in recent years. 

The spirit of the Reformation closed the monastery schools 
and began the evolution of the cathedral and town schools, 
which has gradually continued under the modifying influence 
of each reshaping age in the development of European civiH- 
zation. 

The Gymnasium. — The first of these schools, the gym- 
nasium, was established in 1623 during the reign of Gustavus 
Adolphus II, and during the middle of the same century was 
clearly differentiated from the newly organized lower schools 
for children. This was the result of the first special school 
code of 1649, which was enacted in accord with the recom- 
mendations of the famous Comenius, who at that time was 
invited to Sweden as an educational adviser. Thus the 
gymnasium remained distinct from elementary education for 
nearly two hundred years and was conducted almost exclu- 
sively for the education of clergymen and civil officers. 

Gymnasium Modernized. — The opening of the nineteenth 
century was marked by the introduction of modern languages 
and natural sciences into the gymnasium curriculum, and the 
second quarter of the century, 1828, saw the estabhshment of 
a state experimental school for the purpose of working out 
some reforms in secondary education, as recommended by 
the great educational committee of 1825-28, of which the 
crown-prince himself was chairman. Another important 
advance occurred in 1849, when the classical gymnasiums 
were merged with the apologists' schools, which had sprung 
up in 1820 to meet the demands for a more popular institu- 
tion. In this consolidated school, later known as Allmdnna 
laroverket, grew up two parallel courses of study, one with- 



312 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

out Latin but with mathematics and natural sciences, the 
other with the classical languages. 

The many reforms during the last half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury have pertained mainly to the problems of (i) adjustment 
of the course of study to social needs, (2) or to the stages 
of adolescent development, (3) a broadening of the privilege 
of electives, and (4) a more complete appropriation of what is 
nationally and particularly Swedish. 

The purpose of secondary education, as it is legally ex- 
pressed in the school act of 1878, which is still in force, is, 
*' to give a civic education beyond that imparted by the com- 
mon schools, and also to impart that scientific knowledge 
which is to be further developed at the university or the 
higher special schools." 

Girls' Secondary Schools. — The secondary schools for 
girls are of more recent origin than those for boys, all 
having come into existence during the last half of the 
nineteenth century, except Wallin School in Stockholm and 
the Kjellberg School in Gothenberg, both of which were 
founded in the thirties. 

As a natural consequence, the Swedish secondary schools, 
having evolved from so many different origins, are incongru- 
ous in their inner work and outward organization. The 
secondary schools for boys are public in the sense that they 
receive aid from the state and communities and are under 
state regulations. The very recent reforms in secondary 
education were made by the acts of 1904 and 1909, the chief 
features of which are given in the following description of 
these schools as they now exist. 



Sweden 313 

BOYS' SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

Types. — There are four types of secondary schools for 
boys: — (i) The realskola, or modern school, is a sLx-year 
course following a three-year elementary course in the pubUc 
school. The students who complete this course take the 
realskolexamen, which entitles them to certain privileges, 
such as positions in state ofhces, or students in special schools. 
This is the type of school in most of the small towns and about 
half of them have coeducation, for boys and girls, as pro- 
vided by the school reform statute of 1905. There are some 
private schools of this type though not many, owing to the 
low fees in the state schools. 

(2) The higher-grade school, or gymnasium, starts at the 
end of the fourth year of the modern school, and gives a 
course of four years. Thus, a student, taking this course, 
passes through three elementary grades, four modern school 
grades, and four higher grades, making a total of eleven grades. 

There are two types of these higher-grade schools, (a) 
the yealgymnasium and {b) the Latin gymnasium. Most 
generally both types are found in the same school. This is 
the type of school most common in the larger cities. Latin 
is taught only in the four years of the Latin gymnasium. Cer- 
tain elective privileges are allowed students in the last two 
years of the gymnasium, and the present tendency is to extend 
the elective privilege with a view to several future purposes. 
At the end of the gymnasium course a final examination, 
student-examen, is given, which admits the student to the 
university, or to some higher special school, or to other 
privileges. 

(3) A third type of secondary school was organized under 
the statute of 1909. It is called the mellanskolor , or the 



314 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

intermediate school. This school is the outgrowth of modern 
conditions and practical demands in communities and vil- 
lages that did not have the older type of secondary schools. 
It is based upon the elementary school which consists of the 
two years' infant school and the four years' elementary school, 
or a six-year course. The intermediate school has four grades 
and it prepares for the realskolexamen. These schools are 
generally coeducational. The two types of schools prepar- 
ing for this examination are (i) the modern school, with a 
nine-year course, and (2) the intermediate school, with a ten- 
year course, each including the elementary course upon which 
it is based. The first has six years of specialization upon 
secondary subjects and the second has only four years. This 
condition raises certain questions of both practical and theo- 
retical value in connection with the realexamen. It will 
doubtless lead to reorganization of both schools on a com- 
mon plan. 

(4) A fourth type of secondary school work is the two- or 
three-year continuation school following the six-year elemen- 
tary school. The aim and purpose of this school is to train 
the young people during the transition or adolescent period 
in the practical affairs of life, and to develop in them integrity, 
efficiency, and patriotism. 

These four types of secondary schools are at the present 
time demanding a reorganization of the training of secondary 
teachers. 

Teachers in Secondary Schools. — The quaUfication of 
teachers for the two types of intermediate schools varies, 
thus making an additional problem relative to the realskol- 
examen. 

The teacher in the modern school is evidently superior at 



Sweden 315 

present to the teacher in the intermediate school. In the 
modern school the professor in the upper classes, and the 
assistant professors in the lower classes, are required to be 
university graduates, the first with a doctor's degree, the 
second with a master's degree, the specification for professors 
being somewhat higher, both with an additional probationary 
year at some secondary school, either Stockholm, Upsala, 
or Lund, taking courses in the theory and practice of teach- 
ing. The women teachers, of which there are three in every 
state coeducational school, must have the same qualifications 
as the assistant professor or be graduates of the regular 
course of the State Higher Training College for Women Teach- 
ers. This is also the common standard for women teachers 
in girls' secondary schools. 

In the intermediate school the teachers are required to 
have the same quahfications as the assistant professors and 
as the women in the modern school. But the government, 
by special privilege, may grant a certificate of competency 
to teachers in elementary schools who show special abiUty 
to teach certain subjects in intermediate schools. This 
special provision may make the teaching staff in the inter- 
mediate school of somewhat lower standard than that of the 
modern school. 

All secondary teachers in state schools are appointed by 
the government upon the nomination of the supervisory 
board of the secondary state schools. 

The Higher Training College for Women Teachers, located 
in Stockholm, oflfers a three-year course with an optional 
fourth year intended particularly for the training of spe- 
cialists. 

The standard for admission to the college is an examina- 



3i6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

tion showing that the applicant, who must be i8 years of age, 
has the equivalent of a complete course at an eight-year 
secondary school for girls. The appHcant chooses her own 
course and specializes in the secondary subject she is pre- 
paring to teach. Practice work is done in the State Secondary 
Normal School for Girls attached to the College. The women 
who have taken university degrees are allowed to do this 
probationary year of practice work at the secondary schools 
where such courses are arranged for men. Since the opening 
of the twentieth century, five private training colleges for 
women have been opened, three at Stockholm, one at Lund, 
and one at Gothenberg, each after a plan and organization 
of its own. 

There is a strong tendency recently to modify the course 
in the Higher Training College for Women, so as to make the 
first two years obhgatory, with a course of study designed 
for a broader education, this to be followed by another two 
years of elective specialization. Such a plan would greatly 
improve the training. Tuition in the college is free to all, 
and in addition many poor and deserving students receive 
small scholarships from the state. There is an enrollment of 
about twenty-five in each year of the course. 

HIGHER EDUCATION 

Number and Character of Institutions. — There are six 
institutions of university rank above the higher secondary 
school, or gymnasium. These are : (i) state universities, 
Upsala, Lund, and Caroline Institute at Stockholm, (2) two 
private high schools of university rank, one at Stockholm 
and the other at Gothenberg, and (3) the State Technical School 
at Stockholm. 



Sweden 317 

The most important of these institutions are Upsala 
and Lund, each with four faculties, law, medicine, phi- 
losophy, and theology. The CaroHne Institute is a medi- 
cal college. The high school at Stockholm has a faculty 
of law, mathematics, and natural and political sciences. 
The high school at Gothenberg centers its work around the 
humanities 

The technical school at Stockholm stands at the head of 
a state and private system of technical education. 

If the higher secondary schools, the gymnasia, be regarded 
as junior colleges, all work at the universities is of post- 
graduate rank. The Swedish universities are considered of 
unexcelled thoroughness and completeness. 

Upsala. — • Upsala is the Swedish university of greatest 
historical renown. It was founded in 1477 by Lord Sten 
and the ecclesiastics, with the sanction of the Pope. It 
received another great impetus in the first half of the seven- 
teenth century from Gustavus Adolphus, who donated to 
it 300 of his hereditary estates. At the present time, the 
state spends more than a quarter of a million dollars annually 
in her support to care for the annual enrollment of about 
twenty-four hundred students. 

The University of Upsala, as are the other Swedish uni- 
versities, is essentially a Swedish institution. Her students 
are largely the sons and daughters of Swedish parents. The 
primary purpose of this university is to make men and women 
of culture, fully imbued with national patriotism. In her 
faculties have been found some of the world's greatest schol- 
ars. Linnaeus, the father of systematic botany, filled a 
chair at Upsala for thirty-seven years ; Eric Gustaf Geijer, 
author of " History of the Swedish People," made a contri- 



3i8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

bution not only to the Swedish nation but to all people; 
Bergman was one of the world's greatest chemists. 

Degrees. — The degrees conferred by the faculties are 
those of candidate, licentiate, and doctor, the degree of doctor 
of divinity being conferred without examination by the 
government. 

The courses of study leading to the several degrees at the 
Swedish universities are longer than those in the universities 
of other countries. Students are admitted by examination 
after completing the gymnasium course. Then, on an 
average, they are required to study from 6 to 8 years for the 
degree of licentiate of philosophy, 7 years for the degree in 
law, 9 years in theology, and as much as 1 1 years in medi- 
cine. 

In recent years various attempts have been made to work 
out a plan for the reorganization of the academical examina- 
tions so as to simplify and shorten the courses. 

Faculty and Students. — The faculty is always selected 
with great care, a formality having to be gone through with 
that weeds out undesirable or incompetent applicants before 
an appointment is made. Many able men occupy chairs in 
the present faculties of the several higher institutions. 

In the universities every student must belong to one of 
the nation societies (landskap), in accord with the older 
custom, for mutual aid and for the promotion of industry 
and morality. At Upsala these societies, thirteen in number, 
most all own their own houses, corresponding very much to 
the fraternity houses in American universities ; while in 
Lund, the twelve nations occupy a building in common, 
called the academical societies' building. Each nation is 
made up of the students from some particular section of the 



Sweden 319 

country and is supervised by some one of the professors chosen 
by that nation. A vital part of the university and national 
spirit centers in these student societies. 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

Widespread Interest. — In Sweden, interest in technical 
education is very widespread and comprises every phase of 
technical training, both elementary and advanced. The 
technical schools and courses of secondary rank are very 
numerous and varied. Some of these schools admit students 
from the elementary schools, others from the realskolor, 
and others from the mellanskolor. Some local cities run 
evening classes, or Sunday classes, or other forms of continua- 
tion work. There are both private and state schools of all 
types. State aid to this form of education is very liberal. 

Technical High School. — Standing at the head of this 
entire system of technical training is the Technical High 
School in Stockholm, with special courses in (i) machine 
design and mechanical technology, (2) chemical technology, 
(3) electrotechnics, (4) mining, (5) architecture, and (6) civil 
engineering. 

Chalmers' Polytechnical College, in Gothenberg, has a 
higher division in which are given courses of the same char- 
acter as those in the Technical High School in Stockholm, and 
also a lower division of a more elementary grade of work. 
Since 1896, an institution for the testing of various build- 
ing materials for the government and the public has been 
added to this college. 

The five technical colleges offer three-year courses, both 
theoretical and practical, in the elementary branches of techni- 
cal knowledge, to those who are planning to enter the indus- 



320 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

trial vocations. Students may enter these schools from the 
fifth class of a state secondary school. These colleges are 
situated in five prominent cities. 

The Technical School at Eskilstuna has Sunday and eve- 
ning technical classes and a professional school for cutlery and 
metal industries. 

The Technical School in Stockholm is one of the largest 
and most vital in the system, having more than two thou- 
sand students annually. Its work comprises five departments, 
as follows: (i) technical evening and Sunday school, (2) 
technical school for females, (3) higher industrial art school, 
(4) professional building school, and (5) the professional 
school of mechanics. In addition, there are other courses, 
such as a training college for teachers of drawing, penman- 
ship, and modeling. 

Finally, there are the lower technical schools, of which 
there are forty-one distributed in accord with the branches of 
industry in different localities. They are supported largely 
by their respective communities, but they receive liberal 
state grants. In these schools are enrolled about seven thou- 
sand students, of whom approximately one fifth are women. 

SPECIAL TYPES OF SCHOOL WORK 

For Crippled Children. — Sweden sets an example for the 
world in the education of her crippled children. As early as 
1885, such schools were established at Gothenberg and Karls- 
krona and, a little later, at Helsingborg and Stockholm. 
An illustration of this work is found in Stockholm, where, 
though the regular schools are not open to crippled children, 
special public school teachers are detailed to teach them in 
their homes after school hours. In this same city are two 



Sweden 321 

famous industrial schools for this type of unfortunates, one 
for adults, the other for both adults and children. The latter 
is the Eugenia Hemmet's, said to be one of the most ideal 
schools in the matter of situation and equipment in Europe. 
The rooms are most artistically decorated. Plants are 
everywhere in bloom, birds sing in cages, and beautiful pic- 
tures adorn the walls. Instruction in this school is free and 
even the dinner is served without cost to the poorest pupils. 
The school has an enrollment of about two hundred and is 
divided into families, each family under the care of two or 
three nurses. 

The aim of instruction in these schools is to give the pupils 
a good general education, the children being given special 
training in the elementary branches. Even children with 
no legs or no arms are taught to do things through which 
to earn a living as well as to be employed and happy. 

In the other school, the Society in Aid of the Deformed and 
Infirm, pupils are admitted, ranging in age from 9 to 57. 
An apprenticeship in this school gives to many a cripple a 
dexterity in some form of work that enables him to earn as 
much as many normal workers. 

What a credit to Stockholm that there are no cripples on 
her street ! And what a blessing to the unfortunates ! 

Workshops for Children. — These workshops for children 
are, in a way, a kind of day school where poor children are 
given an opportunity during their leisure hours to learn prac- 
tical work and trades. In more than seventy Swedish towns 
and villages such workshops are found. Each of them is 
aided at the beginning by a grant of 700 to 1000 Kroner, from 
the Institution Lors Hiertas Memorial Fund, an institution 
that has been furthering this work since 1886. The current 



322 Modern EdiLcation in Europe and the Orient 

expenses for the management of the shops are met by appro- 
priations from the city councils, from parish grants, and from 
the sale of the children's work. The aim of the work in these 
shops, briefly stated, is " manual skill and practical use- 
fulness." 

The results of the greater part of a century's experience with 
these schools have been very gratifying ; the children are 
given a refuge from the moral and physical dangers of the 
streets ; they enjoy motherly care and receive efficient educa- 
tion ; they are prevented from becoming vagrants and crim- 
inals ; they are saved to their homes and parents and are 
not put in orphanages and reformatory schools. 

More than two thousand such children in Stockholm alone 
have taken work in these schools, for which the city appro- 
priates annually 38,000 Kroner. The theory back of this 
work seems to be that the child naturally would more readily 
be good and useful than bad and harmful and will become so 
if properly aided by society. 

School Gardens. — The school statutes provide for a school 
garden in connection with every public elementary school 
and every modern school, if possible to that community. 
Sweden doubtless leads the world in this work. Statistics 
show that there are as many as two thousand and five hundred 
such schools, though only about one hundred are fully de- 
veloped in accord with the normal plan of instruction issued 
for the development of these gardens. This plan recommends 
an area of 1000 square meters, to be divided into sections : 
(i) a kitchen-plant section, for growing edible plants; (2) 
a nursery section, for grafted fruit trees, etc. ; and (3) a bo- 
tanical section, for all kinds of plants. 

The work in these gardens is all done by the school chil- 



Sweden 323 

dren under the supervision of specialists, and in many cases 
each child has its own plot to cultivate and care for. They 
are found alike in country and town. 

Swedish Gymnastics. — Swedish gymnastics have attracted 
wide attention for one hundred years, for it was in 1813 that 
Henrick Ling established his Central Gymnastic Institute, 
in Lund, from which the gymnastic idea has spread through- 
out the world. Associated with his name are coupled two 
others, that of Gabriel Branting, who, applying Ling's prin- 
ciples, developed medical gymnastics to a high degree ; and 
Hjalmar Ling, his son, who developed the special subject of 
pedagogical gymnastics. 

The Swedish system of exercises is selected on the basis of 
the requirements of the body itself, likewise are the principal 
instruments used for the performance of these exercises. 
This theory was worked out carefully by the elder Ling in 
his book entitled " General Principles of Gymnastics," in 
which he treated four distinct branches of gymnastics: (i) 
the pedagogic, (2) the military, (3) the medical, and (4) the 
aesthetic, showing in each branch how gymnastics should be 
built upon a science of the human organism and its needs. 
This theory has been held to throughout by his successors. 

The Central Institute in Lund has become a most valuable 
training school for teachers of gymnastics, both men and 
women, for the schools throughout the kingdom. Various 
courses are offered to meet the different demands of the 
state. The enrollment at the Institute is about one hundred 
and fifty, of whom about forty per cent are women. 

Many of these graduates are employed in state secondary 
schools of the kingdom, where all students are required by 
statute to practice gymnastics a half hour daily. And in 



324 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

all the training colleges for elementary teachers special 
gymnasts train the students to become teachers of gymnastics 
in the elementary schools, where it is a compulsory subject. 
Likewise in the People's High Schools, through the means of 
private gymnasiums, and in the towns, in well-equipped gym- 
nastic halls, gymnastics are taught and used as a means of 
physical and moral health. Also the same attention is given 
to gymnastics in the army and navy schools. 

On May 5, 191 5, occurred the centennial celebration of 
Swedish gymnastics. Throughout the whole country the 
schools, colleges, and university observed the day with appro- 
priate exercises, the chief celebration being held in the sta- 
dium, at Stockholm, and participated in by 1 500 young athletes. 

Sloyd. — The educational theory underlying sloyd work 
in the Swedish schools is that " systematically arranged 
manual work is an important element of national education." 
As early as 1877 the state made its first grant of 15,000 Kroner 
for the promotion of sloyd work for boys, chiefly in the ele- 
mentary schools. This appropriation has increased about 
three hundredfold, until now there are as many as five thou- 
sand sloyd-groups receiving aid from the state in both ele- 
mentary and secondary schools. Sloyd is neither a compul- 
sory subject nor is it required to be a single system. However, 
the system worked out at the Naas Sloyd Training College 
is the one most widely used. 

Principles and Aims. — The principles of the system, 
briefly stated, are : its aim is educational not commercial ; 
moral, intellectual, and physical development are secured by 
orderliness, attention, eye-training, and hand-training, in 
the work ; accuracy, and not quantity of work ; the order of 
work determined by the difficulty of ej^ercises ; articles made 



Sweden 325 

are to be aesthetic and useful not luxurious ; the develop- 
ment of the pupil and not the production -of commercial 
articles. 

The sloyd instruction is under the supervision of the govern- 
ment inspectors of the elementary schools. Such cities as 
Stockholm and Gothenberg have special sloyd inspectors. 

The Nads Sloyd Training College. — The center of interest 
in sloyd is at the Naas Sloyd Training College, founded by 
August Abrahamson. At his death in 1898, this institution 
was willed to the state, under conditions providing for its 
perpetuation, as " The August Abrahamson Foundation." 
By the provisions of the will, Otto Solomon was the sole 
director of the foundation until his death, which occurred in 
1907. Since then the superintendence of the college has 
been intrusted to a board. Seven or eight thousand students 
from about forty difTerent countries have studied in this insti- 
tution and have gone out into the schools in their countries 
as exponents of the Swedish sloyd. 

Girls^ Sloyd. — Girls' sloyd is differently organized, but 
for the same pedagogical purpose. The method generally 
in use is the Stockholm method, planned by Miss Hulda 
Lundin as a modification of the German Schallenfeldt method. 
The content of this work for girls is knitting, plain needle- 
work, darning, mending, tracing and making pattern designs, 
cutting out and making underclothing and other garments. 

Six or seven thousand sloyd groups receive state aid for 
this work in girls' schools, both elementary and secondary. 
The subject is compulsory in the lower and middle classes 
of girls' secondary schools, but optional in the coeducation 
schools. 

The training colleges for women teachers ofifer instruc- 



326 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

tion in sloyd and, in addition, many hundreds of teachers 
have been trained at Miss Hulda Lundin's Course of Sloyd. 
The state has aided in this work for girls since 1897, and the 
last eighteen years have seen the subject introduced into 
the curriculum of many schools throughout the kingdom. 

Domestic Economy. — The introduction of domestic econ- 
omy into the Swedish schools was begun more than a quarter 
of a century ago by private parties. Subsequently the work 
has been furthered by investigations, by private endowment, 
and state grants of the work being done in this subject in 
England, Scotland, Belgium, and Germany. 

The subject has been introduced, so far, mainly in the 
elementary schools of the larger towns, though, since 1901, 
many forms of extension courses have been given in the rural 
districts by peripatetic lecturers, maintained by private 
endowments or by county societies. 

Special courses for the training of teachers of this subject 
are found in the Higher Training College for Women Teachers 
at Stockholm ; and Atheneum, a secondary girls' school 
in Stockholm ; and the Upsala Training School of Domestic 
Economy. Each of these schools receives a special yearly 
grant for this particular work. The Swedish Domestic Econ- 
omy Teachers' Association, organized in 1906, exists for the 
purpose of furthering the development of this special phase 
of work for girls. 

Vacation Colonies. — The extent to which Sweden is car- 
ing for the health of her children and extending assistance to 
the poor in this regard is very exemplary. It has become a 
custom in many of the larger towns, such as Stockholm and 
Gothenberg, to send poor children who are in feeble health 
to vacation colonies for the summer. These colonies are sta- 



Sweden 327 

tioned near woods and water, or in some cases, for special 
health purposes, in mountain districts. Stockholm, alone, 
in 1908, maintained fifty-seven such colonies with about 
seventeen hundred children, at a cost of 82,000 Kroner. 
Both physical and moral results are good. 

For Ill-Principled and Neglected Children. — A further 
evidence that Swedish legislation is being directed by sound 
sociological principles toward a humane treatment and de- 
velopment of her children, is found in the law of 1902, rela- 
tive to ill-principled and neglected children. This law pro- 
vides that such children, under the age of fifteen, shall be 
taken care of by the educational authorities and not by the 
courts, and further provides that in every school district in 
the kingdom there shall be a board to take charge of them, 
either a special board or the regular school board. For the 
care of these children, a requisite number of protective homes 
shall be erected by the county councils and supported jointly 
by the county and the state. This method of dealing with 
such children changes the attitude of the state toward them 
from that of police court and criminal judge to that of pa- 
rental protector and educator — a change full of suggestion 
to the world. 

Temperance Education. — The agitation for temperance 
instruction in the Swedish schools has been vigorous for 
more than a quarter of a century, having its effective origin 
in " Words of Warning," a pamphlet issued by Director 
General Wagnus Huss, in 1887, to a royal commission in 
charge of the publication of temperance papers. Follow- 
ing this, in 1 89 1, the Swedish Riksdag petitioned the king 
for action, which resulted a year later in a royal ordinance on 
the basis of which many of the elementary and secondary 



328 Modern Ediication in Europe and the Orient 

school and training colleges have arranged temperance 
instruction. In the natural science lessons, and also in 
connection with the religious education, instruction is given 
on the nature and effects of intoxicating substances. Much 
good has resulted and various temperance organizations are 
pushing the matter for educational prohibition legislation. 
A central association for instruction in the principles of 
temperance was organized in 1901, and through its activities 
a few years later a government grant of 25,000 Kroner was 
secured for two months' summer courses for teachers. These 
courses were given in training colleges and public elementary 
and secondary schools for both men and women teachers. 
In addition to this, many popular scientific courses are given 
annually in different parts of the country. The government 
is also appropriating liberally to other forms of temperance 
work, and, likewise, the county and commercial governments 
are making a similar contribution to the great cause of tem- 
perance. 

People's High Schools. — The establishment of the people's 
high schools in Sweden was an immediate outgrowth of 
the democratic evolution in the civil government of the realm, 
when, in 1866, Charles XV dissolved the last diet of estates, 
the remnant of the middle ages, and opened the two cham- 
bers with an elective franchise without social class distinction. 
This called for a higher and broader education of the lower 
classes and especially of the adult rural peasant classes for 
their exercise of the newly acquired rights of citizenship. 

Danish Influence. — The Swedish educators readily turned 
to Denmark where a type of adult schools, somewhat earlier, 
had been built up for civic, moral, and national purposes 
to strengthen the Danish nation after the conflict with Ger- 



Sweden 329 

many. The results of the Danish influence were the adoption 
of the name, folkhogskolor, and the embodiment of the 
broad civic and rehgious principles into their course of study, 
methods, and management. Three schools of this type were 
opened almost simultaneously in 1868 and now there are 
forty-four folk high schools recognized by the Swedish gov- 
ernment, to which she appropriated in 191 2-13, 338,200 
crowns. The student enrollment for that year was 11 00 men 
and 1080 women. As special aid to the needy students the 
government granted 80,000 crowns. 

Private Ownership. — The schools are all privately owned 
and most all have good buildings and equipment with resi- 
dences for the teachers. The spirit of cooperation every- 
where prevails. The school is under the direction of a board, 
appointed by the societies supporting the school, and is di- 
rectly administered by a manager who is generally a uni- 
versity graduate. 

Foght points out an important respect in which the Swedish 
policy is at variance with the Danish. He says, " Since the 
Swedish government began offering liberal support for the 
establishment of agricultural schools, the folk high schools 
have gone through a partial reorganization. Two schools 
are usually found on the same campus, under one adminis- 
trative head, although the schools continue to have separate 
principals and are housed in their own buildings. Their 
relation is much the same as is that of the several schools in 
an American university, each with its own dean, subject to 
one administrative head." 

Courses for Women. — The people's high school courses 
for women had their beginning in 1873 at Hvilan in Skane, 
where the first school of the kind was opened for men. These 



330 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

courses are usually open from May to July, the months when 
the men are at home. As a rule they are directed by the 
manager of the men's school, assisted by his wife and other 
female teachers. The courses of study for the two sexes 
are largely the same so far as general culture is concerned, 
but widely different in other respects, each sex specializing 
in the subjects adapted to its needs. 

Age and Advancement of Students. — The men attending 
these schools range in age from twenty to twenty-two years 
and the women from eighteen to twenty. Upon applying 
for entrance, the students must furnish evidence of having 
completed the elementary school and must, also, present a 
certificate of good conduct. 

Course oj Study. — The course of study covers a wide 
range of subjects, but is centered around the Swedish language, 
literature, and history, and the sciences and arts that are 
of greatest significance to rural peasant life. The Swedish 
rural high school has done much to elevate the rural people 
and to make them contented, intellectually, morally, and 
economically. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

Relation of Church and School. — The close relation be- 
tween church and state in Sweden makes the subject of reli- 
gious instruction in that country one of peculiar interest 
to foreigners. The relation is so close that both the church 
and school are under the same department — the Ecclesias- 
tical Department. Furthermore, the supervision of the 
schools in each diocese is under the diocesan board, with 
the consent of the church assembly. The training college 
course for elementary teachers includes religion as one of the 



Sweden 33 1 

obligatory subjects and calls for 13.2 per cent of the time for 
this subject in the four-year course. The applicant for a 
teachers' certificate must have obtained a certificate in reli- 
gion along with other subjects from the state training col- 
leges. The election of a teacher in ordinary for each common 
school is by the church assembly, upon nomination of three 
candidates by the school board. 

Statutory Provisions. — The common school statute pre- 
scribes religion as one of the subjects to be taught. The 
normal plan, issued by the Ecclesiastical Department, fixes 
the range of instruction in religion as follows : stories from 
the Old and New Testament, Luther's Brief Catechism with 
its accepted exposition, select hymnal verses, and perusal of 
certain books of the New Testament. For continuation 
schools, the plan prescribes the reading of an entire book of 
the Bible, or a portion of such, and the study of Luther's 
Brief Catechism. The minimum requirement for students 
who, by reason of poverty, must drop out of school before 
completing the entire course, is fixed by the plan as, — Bible, 
history and catechism, as far as necessary for partaking in 
the parochial instruction preparatory for the first communion. 
In all types of secondary schools, religion is a constant sub- 
ject throughout all the years of the curriculum. In the Higher 
Training College for Women Teachers and in the Normal 
School attached to it the same relative amount of instruction 
in religion is given as is found in other types of schools. 

Theology in the University. — Above all this religious in- 
struction in the various grades of the common, secondary, 
and the teachers' training schools stand the faculties of 
theology in the two state universities, from which the high- 
est degree in religious education, the doctor of divinity, is 



332 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

issued by the government itself, without examination. And 
finally the king himself, by constitutional requirements, 
must be a member of the state church, the Evangelical 
Lutheran. 

However, full liberty of conscience is allowed and there 
exist vigorous branches of Cathohcs, Methodists, Baptists, 
and other religious organizations. Parents are allowed to 
withdraw their children from the religious classes of the 
established church provided they give them instruction in 
their own religion. 

Decree of Efficiency. — To what extent such a state sys- 
tem of religion is efhcient in maintaining the moral and reli- 
gious consciousness of the rising generations is variously 
estimated by different students of religious systems of edu- 
cation. 

The Bishop of Salisbury in his book on the " National 
Church of Sweden" says, " Sweden has at this moment an 
established church which has a better theoretical and in some 
ways practical relation to the state than any except perhaps 
the established church of Scotland, and which surpasses 
that church by its greater hold upon primitive order and 
certain elements of worship." He also says that the " close 
connection of the church with the universities has kept the 
professors of theology closer to the tradition of the faith than 
has been the case in the continental universities, and has 
also secured a high standard of intellectual attainment, 
which may be compared with that of the church of England, 
of the estabHshed church of Scotland, and our own sister 
church of Ireland." 

The bishops, almost without exception, have been leaders 
in educational activities, so far as their excessive duties would 



Sweden 333 

permit. They have, it is thought, by reason of their official 
diocesan duties become so far removed from the people that 
mental sympathy between them and the young people of 
their parishes has seriously waned. 

Religious Consciousness. — Conflicting judgments exist 
as to the stability of the church adherents among the younger 
people. Catholic critics, in particular, see an alarming drift- 
ing of young people away from the orthodoxy of the church 
into atheism, socialism, and civic immorality. Even the 
Lutheran bishops themselves present discouraging pictures 
of the religious situation in some of their dioceses. Says one 
of them : — 

" The general result described is that the church is unpopu- 
lar in many parts of the great diocese which he is called to 
administer ; that the attendance at its regular services is 
more often poor than good, or even fair ; that the number 
of persons confirmed is declining ; that there is a great decay 
of faith and a growth of socialism and infidelity ; — that the 
relation between employees and employed are often uncom- 
fortable, and that there is a lamentable laxity of morals 
among the young people." Doubtless such a picture could 
be drawn, with slight modifications, of the religious condi- 
tions in other countries of the world, both with and without 
a state church. It would only serve to show that human 
nature, even the religious instinct and consciousness, the 
world over, responds pretty much the same way to the same 
conditions. Sweden is not an exception. The fact is, the 
world is in a state of social and religious evolution. The 
Swedish system of religious education in the public schools 
will have to respond to modern conceptions just as her secular 
education is responding. 



334 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Compare the density of population in Sweden with that in your 
state and country. 

2. Write an account of the influence of Comenius upon Swedish 
education. 

3. Describe the school hfe of a Swedish boy from his entrance into 
school at six or seven years of age until he graduates from the university 
with the degree of licentiate of philosophy. 

4. Make a study of the school garden work in Sweden and compare 
this with the school garden work in your state. 

5. Make a study of the Naas Sloyd Training College and its in- 
fluence in the Swedish sloyd work. 

6. What special provisions are made for the education of Swedish 
girls and women ? 

7. Describe the relation of the Swedish government to temperance 
education. 

8. What prominent educational institutions in America are main- 
tained by Swedish organizations ? 

9. Account for the advanced position taken by the Scandinavian 
countries in regard to equal suffrage for women. 

10. To what extent is Swedish gymnastics in use in American schools ? 

Special Bibliography 

Education in Sweden, for Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 

1909, Stockholm. 
FoGHT, H. W. Danish High Schools, U. S. Bulletin, 1914, No. 22. 
Callander, Otto. The Secondary Schools of Sweden, English Board of 

Education, Special Reports, Vol. Ill, London, 1888. 
JONSON, J. V. The Folkhogskolor in Sweden. 
Lagerstedt, N. G. W. The Education System of Sweden. 
LiNDSTROM, P. E. Swedish School System, in Monroe's Cyclopedia of 

Education, Vol. IV. 
Nilson, Victor. Sweden. 
Solomon, Otto. The August Abraham Foundation, The U. S. Com. of 

Education, 1904, Vol. I, pp. 676-797. 



Sweden 335 

Special Types of Swedish Education, U. S. Com. of Education Reports, 
1907, Vol. I ; 1913, Vol. I ; 1914, Vol. I ; 1915, Vol. I. 

SuNDBORG, GusTAv. Sweden, Its Peoples and Its Industries, 1904, 
Naesled and Sons, Stockholm, Sweden. 

Thwing. Universities of the World, Upsala, 191 1, The Macmillan Com- 
pany, New York. 

Wordsworth, John, D.D., Bishop of Salisbury. National Church of 
Sweden, 191 1, Young, Churchman and Co., Milwaukee, Wis- 
consin. 



JAPAN 
CHAPTER X 

HER HISTORY 

• Establishment of Feudalism. — Historic Japan from 660 
B.C., as accounted for in Japan's oldest book, the Kojiki. 
At this date, invaders took possession of the country that 
was already settled by many tribes. A system of feudalism 
was established, with the original inhabitants tilUng the soil 
and the invaders controlling the government. The several 
peoples intermarried and developed a civilization to which 
the Japan of to-day owes its origin. 

Introduction of Buddhism. — Civilization from Korea and 
China gradually drifted in till, in 552 a.d., Buddhist mission- 
aries from Korea flooded Japan with their culture and religion. 
Anedist, issued in 621 a.d., made Buddhism the state religion. 

Monarchy and Militarism. — Japan copied from China. 
In 603 she changed from feudalism to monarchy, after the 
Chinese plan. As a result of this centralized system of govern- 
ment, a military class grew up, parallel with the agricultural 
class. This cleavage in Japanese society has continued to 
the present time. The empire was extended through aggres- 
sive military rule, but, at the same time, a strong class of 
civil rulers grew up about the capital to rival the military 
power. The struggles between thfese two forces culminated 
in 1 192, when the leader of the military party had himself 

33(> 



Japan 337 

appointed Shogun, or Military Chief. Being already the 
real ruler of the country, he likewise assumed control of the 
purse, and, thereby, left the court, in honor and poverty, 
dependent upon him. Just two centuries later, the ruHng 
Shogun became emperor, in fact, and next succession to the 
throne was made hereditary in the family of the Shogun. 
Civilization reached a high stage of development during the 
nearly two centuries of Shogun rule. But, through the period, 
the religious power of the Buddhists, by means of their 
wealth and organization, was a constant menace to the mili- 
tary class. 

Christianity Introduced. — In the latter half of the sixteenth 
century, Christianity was introduced into Japan and outside 
countries also began to enter with a system of commerce and 
industrialism similar to that in feudal Europe. 

Japan's Ports Opened to the World. — Japan, following the 
Chinese policy, began the exclusion of foreigners and the 
inclusion of her own people within her own boundaries. 
Rescue from this poHcy of isolation and decline came in 1854, 
when Commodore Perry entered Japan's ports and secured 
with her treaties with the United States. Contact with 
the west and the influence of western learning and culture 
drove the Shogun power from the field in 1867, and 
placed the government in the charge of men with new 
ideas and new motives, sworn to rule in deference to public 
opinion. 

Modern Constitutional Government. — Under the influence 
of such a rule, the Emperor voluntarily promulgated the new 
constitution in 1889, guaranteeing representative govern- 
ment. There organization of society and government was 
made in accord«with advisers from foreign countries, invited 



338 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

into Japan for this purpose. The United States furnished 
the plan for education ; France, for the army ; the British, for 
the navy ; and the Dutch, for internal improvement. The 
subsequent years have been given to internal readjustment 
and development of commercial and international relation- 
ships. Her recent wars with China, Korea, and Russia were 
largely of territorial significance. Japan ranks to-day as the 
greatest of the far eastern powers. Her own vision, fifty years 
ago, placed a modern educational system at the pivotal point 
in the rise of her nation, and this she has been rapidly and 
efficiently developing to the present time. 

GEOGRAPHY AND INDUSTRIES 

Geography. — The Empire of Great Japan (Dai Nippon) is 
composed of about 4000 islands, of which only about 500 are 
inhabited. The total area is 260,738 square miles. Japan 
proper consists of the five main islands and their adjacent 
small islands, with a total area of 87,426 square miles. Its 
greatest breadth is less than 200 miles. The land can be 
described as consisting of high mountains, deep valleys, 
and many small plains, covered, for the most part, with 
a luxuriant vegetation, but breaking here and there, 
throughout, with barren peaks and extinct or active vol- 
canoes. The climatic conditions are widely varying, as 
the land stretches from south to north through nearly 30 
degrees of latitude. 

Industries. — Agriculture is a prominent industry, although 
only 1 7 per cent of the land is devoted to this purpose. The 
main agricultural products, in the order of their output, are 
rice, barley, rye, wheat, tobacco, tea, cotton, silk, and vege- 
tables. About three fifths of the arable land is cultivated by 



Japan 339 

peasant owners and the other two fifths by tenants. The 
average holding is about one acre. 

Animal husbandry and dairying have been recently 
introduced, under government management, with skilled 
foreign superintendents, and are becoming quite successful. 
The stock, in the order of their numbers, are horses, cattle, 
hogs, goats, and sheep. 

The mineral resources of Japan are only moderate, but 
they are being well developed. In 191 1 there were 226,308 
employees engaged in mining industries. The leading mining 
products, in the order of their values, are copper, iron, lead, 
silver, gold, and coal. 

The fisheries and allied industries engage about 1,500,000 
employees. 

The manufactures of Japan, as a whole, are fairly well de- 
veloped, and, in the manufacture of lacquer work, they lead 
the world. Her other main manufactured products are cotton 
goods, paper products, earthenware, matting, silk. In 1913 
Japan had 87 government factories and 15,119 private fac- 
tories with 863,447 employees. 

Her imports, in 1914, amounted to $297,872,535 and her 
exports to $255,552,090. 

In 1914 her population was 53,696,858; her total debt, 
on which she is paying 4 to 5 per cent interest, was 2,545,070 
yen; her expenses, 559,759,598 yen; and her revenue 
654,282,173 yen. The yen equals 49.8 cents, or approxi- 
mately fifty cents in gold. 

Education received, in the year 1914, 79,692,983 yen from 
all sources. Only 1.7 per cent of the federal expenditures 
was for education, in comparison with 6.4 per cent in France, 
for the same year. 



340 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

HER GOVERNMENT 

Constitutional Monarchy. — The government of Japan is 
a constitutional monarchy, under which the Emperor (Mikado 
or Tenno) combines in himself the rights of sovereignty. In 
the discharge of the executive functions of the government, 
the Emperor has the advice and assistance of the Cabinet 
Ministers, who are appointed by him and responsible solely 
to him. 

The powers of the Emperor are very great. He can de- 
clare war, make peace, conclude treaties, legislate (with 
permission of the Diet), convoke and prorogue the Diet, 
sanction or veto laws. 

The reigning Emperor is Yoshihito. He came to the throne 
July 30, 191 2, and was coronated in November, 1915. The 
succession to the throne is fixed upon his male descendants. 

The constitution on which this government rests was 
granted voluntarily by the Emperor, in 1889, in keeping of 
his oath made in 1878, to give the people a representative 
government. 

The central government, in addition to the Emperor and 
his Imperial Cabinet, consists of the Privy Council and nine 
Ministers of Departments. 

Legislative Department. — The Imperial Diet (Legislative 
Department) consists of two houses: (i) the House of Peers, 
consisting of 369 members, elected from {a) hereditary 
castes, (])) classes distinguished for meritorious service, and 
(c) the fifteen male inhabitants in fu or ken, paying the 
highest state tax on land, industry, or trade. 

(2) The House of Representatives, having at present 379 
members, elected on a population basis by male suffrage, ex- 
tended on a qualification consisting of age, residence, and 



Japan 341 

property provisions. The Japanese type of franchise and 
representation is more like the German than that of the 
United States. 

Justice is administered through a Ministry of Justice and 
a system of four classes of courts, founded on the principles 
of modern jurisprudence. 

Local Government. — Local government is through pre- 
fectures, which are divided into municipalities, towns, and 
villages, as the units of local government. Each of these 
units has its legislative assembly, or council, and executive 
officers. The governor and sheriff of each prefecture, and 
the mayor of each municipality, are appointed by the Emperor. 
Other officials are elected. Citizenship and election franchise 
are extended to male citizens, over 25 years of age, and with 
certain residence and property qualifications. 

The present tendency in Japan is towards democracy, and 
the avenues of approach to it are (i) party government, and 
(2) a ministry responsible to the Diet, and not to the Emperor. 

Administration of Education. — Education is administered 
through a department, established in 187 1, largely in accord 
with the United States model, but subsequently modified 
through German influences, as it exists to-day. The Ministry 
of Education is one of the most important in the government. 

/. Education under the Early Feudal Regime 
(660 B.C.-603 A.D.) 

THE ANCIENT SYSTEM OF EDUCATION 

Amalgamation of Invading and Aboriginal Tribes. — Edu- 
cation during this earliest period was largely concerned with 
the amalgamation of the invading and conquering race with 



342 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the aboriginal tribes. These invading people were Malays, 
Mongolians, Tartars, and Koreans. Out of the amalgamation 
we have the Japanese and the Ainu (the former aborigines) 
of to-day. These people intermarried, and acquired each 
other's customs, habits, language, and religious rites. They 
organized society by establishing the rank and honor of the 
ruling chieftains and assigning the conquered tribes to the 
tilling of the soil. The struggles and conflicts of this crude 
civilization were towards the estabhshment of a common 
language, common customs, and common ideas. Other than 
this, their education pertained to the manufacture of the crude 
implements of warfare, their meager clothing, and the pro- 
duction of the necessary articles of food. 

Chinese Classics and Confucianism Introduced. — The 
latter part of this period was marked with the introduction 
of influences from Korea and China. At this time, about 405 
A.D., a famous Korean scholar, Ajiki, came to Japan and 
presented to the Emperor copies of several of the Chinese 
classics. As a result of the interest he aroused, he was em- 
ployed as tutor to one of the princes. In this way began the 
literary form of education in Japan and, with it, the spread of 
Confucianism. Other Korean and Chinese scholars came to 
Japan and were naturalized and employed as teachers. Civil 
education, also, was begun at this time, through the appoint- 
ment of recording officers in the different provinces, to make 
records of the proceedings of the local governments. 

Likewise, beginnings in moral education were made through 
the teachings and practice of the virtues taught in the Chinese 
classics, as loyalty, filial piety, and justice. 

These events record the real beginnings of education in 
Japan. And it must be remembered that the literary part 



Japan 343 

of this education was only for the children of the nobility 
and that the children of the industrial classes received only 
such education as belonged to their class in feudal civilization. 
Japanese Students Study in China. — The study of the 
Chinese literature, even in those early days, was regarded by 
the nobility as an important medium for diplomatic relations 
with Korea and China. During the early part of the seventh 
century A.D., the practice was begun of sending Japanese 
students to China to be educated there. These students 
returned bringing with them an ebb of Chinese civilization. 
The firm establishment of Chinese literature and arts in Japan 
was guaranteed through the founding of Japan's first educa- 
tional institution, in the year 667 a.d. However, it must 
be kept in mind, that, during those twelve centuries of early 
Japanese history, many forces, other than the dominant 
one of the period, were shaping themselves for subsequent 
control. 

II. Education under Buddhist Domination 

(552 A.D.-II92 A.D.) 

Buddhism Supplants Confucianism. — The second era in 
ancient Japanese education had its origin in the arrival, 
in 552 A.D., of Buddhist missionaries from Korea. These 
brought with them their religious books and teachings and 
also writing, calendar-making, and methods of keeping time. 
The Buddhist priests soon won high favor at the Imperial 
Court, and in the society of the nobility. The priests studied 
in China. They showed great adaptability in coalescing 
with Confucianism their Buddhist doctrines, while at the 
same time retaining the controlling position for their faith. 
As early as 621 a.d., Buddhism had become so popular with 



344 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

both nobility and common people, by edict, in that year, it was 
made the established religion of the land. The amalgamation 
of Buddhist and Chinese literature marked one of the most 
prosperous educational epochs in ancient Japanese history. 

State Educational Institution Established, 701 a.d. — In 
the Code of Laws, promulgated by the Emperor in 701 a.d. 
special regulations were made for the establishment of educa- 
tional institutions, the first under state control in Japan, 
A university was organized, at the capital, with courses of 
study in history, classics, laws, and mathematics, all open' as 
electives to students. Likewise a school was established in 
each province, with courses in classics, mathematics, and 
penmanship. The principle of state support was established 
through the endowment of education with extensive tracts 
of public lands, the revenue from which was to be used in the 
support of the schools. Many private schools were established 
during this period, by the rich nobles, for the education of 
their own children in the arts and sciences. 

Purpose and Effect of Caste Education. — But all organized 
education was Kmited to the children of the ruling classes and 
the families of the nobility. And the chief aim of this educa- 
tion was to train these children for political preferment in 
state official positions. The political and social result of 
this education, upon the state and the masses of the people, 
was the change of the government from feudalism to monarchy, 
with the Chino- Japanese educated nobility in charge of the 
government. The maintaining of this centralized form of gov- 
ernment called for the development of a miHtary force which 
gradually drew attention away from education. Decline set 
in and education became the possession of a few privileged 
families who transmitted it to their posterity as a heredi- 



Japan 345 

tary right. The Emperor, overshadowed by the military 
rule, sought retirement in religious and literary pursuits, 
and the government passed into the hands of the military 

class. 

III. Education under Military Control 

(1192 A.D.-1867 A.D.) 

Government Becomes a Military Feudalism. — The third 
period of ancient Japanese education is well fixed by the culmi- 
nation of the struggles of the monarchy in the appointment 
of the mihtary chief, as Shogun, or military ruler, in 1192 a.d. 

During this period, the attention of the ruHng mihtary 
party was given to the organization of society and state as 
a complete mihtary feudahsm. EducatiT)n was preserved only 
by the few great scholars, by educational institutions main- 
tained by famihes of the nobihty, and by the Buddhist priests 
and their temples. The only form of education for the people, 
during this period, seems to have been furnished by the 
Buddhists, in simple neighborhood schoolhouses. 

Jesuits Establish Schools in Japan. — Other influences 
from without entered Japan, during the sixteenth century 
of this period, and left their effect upon education and the 
social and religious consciousness of the people. The Por- 
tuguese, in 1542, opened up commercial relations with Japan 
and suppHed them with firearms and a trade that enriched 
many of the Japanese princes. About the same time, 1549, 
Zavier and other Jesuit priests, together with Spanish mis- 
sionaries from the Philippines, representing other orders of 
CathoUc Christians, came to Japan and began their work of 
rehgious conquest. The Shogun of the day persecuted and 
subdued the Buddhists, but, on the other hand, offered en- 



346 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

couragement to the Jesuits. For half a century this mis- 
sionary work flourished, until there were several thousand 
native Christians in Japan. The Jesuits built schools as well 
as churches. They established a college at Nagasaki and 
several seminaries at other places, both for the education of 
priests and for general education. But the different Christian 
orders became unfriendly and antagonistic to one another 
and some began to interfere with poHtical affairs, the result 
of which was the displeasure of the government and a long- 
time prejudice against everything Christian. This condition 
in Japan was very similar to what these same organizations 
had created in other countries during the same period. 

Foreigners Excluded and Non-Christian Education Re- 
newed. — The pohcy adopted by the government was ex- 
clusion of all foreigners and the inclusion of all natives within 
the territory of Japan. This was accomplished in 1624. 
Of the work of these missionaries no lasting intellectual, 
moral, or artistic effect was left, except to drive Japan back 
into Confucianism. The expulsion of all these foreign factors 
left the government of the miHtary Shogunate complete. 
For 250 years they remained so. Confucianism, Buddhism, 
and Shintoism, the native reUgion of the Japanese, were all 
revived. Schools both for the common people and for the 
higher classes were developed to quite a high degree. A 
Confucian college was organized in 1691 that became the 
highest educational institution down to the modern period. 
The state endowed schools with land grants, and feudal lords 
built schools for their vassals. 

Course of Study and Methods. — The subject matter in 
these schools was the Chinese and Japanese, as the Japanese 
at this time organized their own Hterature. By the close 



Japan 347 

of the period the schools were very well developed into three 
grades, the primary, the middle, and the college. Of the 
colleges, the one at Yedo was the center of the highest Con- 
fucian learning, and the one at Kyota, the highest Buddhist 
and pure Japanese learning. 

The content of the primary curriculum was writing, Chinese 
classics, simple things in environment and government, arith- 
metic, and etiquette. 

The method was by imitation and memory, as in the Chinese 
schools. The pupil entered at six or seven years of age and 
spent five years. 

In the middle school, the content was Hterary and miUtary. 
The military part was feudal, as was fwund in the schools of 
other feudal countries of that day. It consisted of fencing, 
wrestling, archery, swimming, horsemanship, and the use of 
the spear. The course covered about three years, above the 
primary school. The literary part consisted of history of 
China and Japan, rhetoric, strategy, geography of Japan, 
writing, and arithmetic. 

In the colleges, the subjects of the middle schools were con- 
tinued with the addition of historical classics and algebra 
and Chinese and Japanese philosophy. 

The main ends of all this education were moral character 
and .the physique of an athlete and warrior. Instruction was 
free in all of these schools. The teacher was regarded as 
" father of the mind " and highly honored, though, from a 
modern point of view, his education would not merit for 
him such renown. Says one writer, '* His chief duty was to 
stuff and cram the minds of his pupils." 

Education of Girls. — The education of girls was not so 
extensive as that of the boys. Many of the schools for the 



348 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

ordinary people were attended by girls as well as boys. For 
the girls, special subjects, like needlework and weaving, 
were taught. There were some schools for the girls of the 
military class, in which the girls were taught hunting and 
fencing. But for the girls in the upper social classes, private 
instructors were generally employed to teach in the homes. 
Here they were given instruction in music, poetry, writing, 
fencing, etiquette, and (as to the boys) how to kill themselves 
properly, in case of need. Closely adhering to the teaching 
of Confucius, the Japanese gave their girls but Httle Uterary 
training. 

TRANSITION TO MODERN EDUCATION 

(1854-1J 



Liberalism Destroys Militarism. — The Shogunate, or 
military government, that had maintained peace in Japan 
for 250 years, came to an end in 1867, and the Emperor was 
brought out of seclusion at Kyota and restored to power. 
The aristocracy of the Shogunate, in forbidding Christian 
religion and all independent thought in rehgious and pohtical 
philosophy, was the fundamental cause of this change in govern- 
ment. The very schools which the Shogunate government built 
up fostered the scholars, who, in their antagonism to the spirit 
of repression, formulated the Uberal ideas that spread the spirit 
of dissatisfaction with the military government. The virtue 
of loyalty, taught in the religions, allied the people to their 
Emperor and to their own nation. This loyalty took shape in 
the preference of Japanese literature to Chinese, Shinto to Con- 
fucianism and Buddhism, and the Emperor to the Shogun. 

Western Learning Enters Japan. — This spirit of a new 
nationalism received another impetus from Dutch learning, 



Japan 349 

which had been admitted in 1720, in the form of books, deal- 
ing with all subjects of western knowledge, with the exception 
of reUgious ones. The Dutch were followed by the British, 
the French, Russians, and Americans, who stole into the 
Japanese waters and forts, spreading their learning and com- 
merce. The learned and progressive Japanese courted this 
relationship. Both these and the foreigners demanded a 
strong central government to protect them against the oppo- 
sition of the Shogunate. Thus, the liberalism of the nations 
and the pressure of western learning opened Japan again to 
the world. The consummation of this movement was the 
Perry treaty in 1854, the overthrow of_ the Shogunate, and 
the restoration of the Emperor to the throne of a united 
Japanese Empire, in 1868. The treaties with foreign countries 
proved to be the means of bringing to Japan the ideas, in- 
ventions, and the systems of thought necessary to make of 
her a New Japan. 

Feudalism Destroyed, 1871. — To these events must be 
added the abolishment of the feudal system, in 1871, to make 
the transition to modern education complete. With the 
passing of this feudal system, the autocrats were recognized 
as ordinary people and the military castes were leveled to 
the plane of other classes. Feudal castes were either de- 
stroyed or converted into schools for the masses. With the 
nation thus united, the government was reorganized in accord 
with western models. Since then, the striking characteristics 
of the Japanese people — imitation and absorption — have been 
concentrated upon building a New Empire with a modern 
educational system at its core. 



35° Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

MODERN EDUCATION 

(1868-19 I 6) 

Japan's Educational Policy. — The modern period of edu- 
cation in Japan can be conveniently designated as beginning 
with the edict of the Emperor, April, 1868, in which he swore 
that intellect and learning should he sought after in all quarters 
of the world, as one of the five great principles on which he 
should establish his throne. By this, he meant to broaden 
the sources of knowledge for Japan to include the entire 
universe wherever knowledge could be found. And he 
meant to send the students and scholars of Japan into all 
the world and to invite and welcome scholars and books 
from every enlightened country. This has been the policy 
of Japan to the present day. 

Feudal Lords Establish Schools. — Verbeck, a Dutch- 
American missionar}', who for some years had been engaged 
in religious education in Nagasaki, was invited, in 1869, to 
come to the capital, Tokyo, and found a university and to 
become a general counselor to the Japanese. This university, 
in reality, was mainly a school of foreign languages for the priv- 
ileged class. The enrollment reached as much as a thousand, 
including students of every age and from every part of the 
kingdom, attending English, French, and German depart- 
ments. They came with belt and sword and other insignia 
of their feudal-military civilization. Prejudice was so in- 
tense, among the general populace, against foreigners, that 
the government kept fifty armed men at the university to 
protect the foreign teachers. 

This school, at Tokyo, was a fair type of the many schools 
established in feudal provinces by the former feudal lords. 



Japan 351 

These schools, following in the wake of the edict of 187 1, 
which retired the feudal (Daimyos) into private life meant 
not only the civil but the social abohtion of feudalism in Japan. 
With that system broken, Japan merged into the modern world 
of learning. Reorganization of education followed rapidly. 
The imperial decree of 1869, regulating universities, middle 
schools, and elementary schools, and the establishment of the 
Department of Education, 187 1, were followed in 1872 by the 
promulgation of the Code of Education, and the Imperial 
Rescript, showing the course to be pursued in general. With 
these acts, the present educational system in Japan was put 
into operation. * 

Provisions of the Code of 1872. — The code shows in- 
fluence from both American and French sources, but the later 
development of the system has been in the direction of German 
models. The essential provisions were as follows: (i) The 
country was to be divided into 8 grand school districts, each 
with a university and a bureau of school inspection. (2) Each 
grand school district was to be divided into 32 middle school 
districts, each to have 8 middle schools. (3) Each of the 
middle school districts was to be divided into 210 primary 
school districts, each to have 8 primary schools. This scheme 
provided for 8 universities, 256 middle schools, and 53,760 
primary schools. The code made no provision for technical 
schools, though many such schools had already been or- 
ganized. 

Realization of This Scheme. — It is interesting to notice 
at this point how fully this scheme as to the number of 
schools of the different grades has been reaHzed. The last 
available statistics are for the year 191 2-13. They show 
25,750 elementary schools, 314 middle schools, and 4 imperial 



352 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

universities. The elementary schools and the universities 
have reached just about half the number planned for, and the 
middle schools have passed the mark by 23 per cent. IMany 
other types of schools have entered the system since the pro- 
mulgation of the first code. 

Purpose and Scope of Education. — The purpose and scope 
of education were clearly set forth in the Educational Rescript 
of 1872. The main principles were these: (i) The acquisi- 
tion of knowledge is necessary for every walk of life, con- 
sequently the fullest provisions were to be made for the educa- 
tion of all classes of people, both men and women, to such an 
extent that there shall not be an ignorant member in any 
family in the land. (2) Each individual should acquire 
knowledge by his own exertions, and not depend upon the 
government for support, as, hitherto, had been the practice. 

Naturally the introduction of a code so radical into the 
schools of a nation would be followed by many revisions of that 
code to secure harmonious adjustment to the people. Many 
such changes have been made in the Japanese code, by which 
there have been provided technical schools, normal schools 
for girls, compulsory education, pensions for teachers, a system 
of moral instruction, the extension of free education, the pro- 
vision of a system of state textbooks for the primary schools, 
and industrial courses in the primary and middle schools for 
both boys and girls. 

Essential Features of the School System. — The general 
outline and the essential features of the present school system 
of Japan are as follows. The movement of modern education 
in Japan is one of internal origin, and is considered one of 
the most notable achievements of the past half century. 
Although stimulated and aided, at the beginning, by experts 



Japan 353 

from western countries, the work of modernizing the Japan 
school system quickly passed into the hands of natives. 
Hence, the change has occurred without any loss of the spirit 
of patriotism and paternal regard for the best features of the 
ancient regime. And, inasmuch as the modern movement is 
strictly scientific, the evolution of the school system has been 
, without conflict with the conventional, ethical, and religious 
teachings of the Japanese people. 

The system of public education is as completely unified 
as that of any country in Europe, as all types of schools, both 
cultural, industrial, and technical, are closely correlated and 
are under the direction of the Ministry of Public Instruction. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 

Units and Officials of Administration. — For the adminis- 
tration of education, Japan is divided into 46 prefectures, of 
which 43 are called Ken and 3, Fu. The 3 Fu are Tokyo, 
Kyoto, and Osaka. The prefectures are subdivided into 
rural and urban districts, cities, towns, and villages. The 
rural district is called Gun, and is about the same as an 
American county. Each of these units of administration, 
the prefecture, district, city, town, or village, has its headman, 
or mayor, who is assisted by a council and assembly of some 
kind. The central government retains its power over all 
of these local units, either by appointment or approval of the 
headman. Otherwise, there is a fair degree of self-govern- 
ment. These local officials are responsible for education in 
their respective territories. 

Government Control and Inspection of Education. — The 
control and inspection of education are by the Department of 
Education, the head of which is a cabinet minister. He is 



354 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

assisted by a vice-minister, legal advisers, three chiefs of the 
bureaus of (i) general, (2) special, and technical schools, 
five inspectors of schools, and a higher council of education 
which meets annually. And for local inspection, the prefec- 
ture has one chief inspector with two assistant inspectors, and 
each rural district has one inspector. 

The private schools are controlled mainly by three methods : 
(i) the state retains the right to inspect them; (2) pupils 
from unrecognized private schools are required to pass a rigid 
examination, for which they pay a fee, for admission to the 
higher institutions; and (3) the state permits students in 
recognized schools to delay military service until they are 
through school, and then to shorten the term of such service 
from one year to three. For these reasons, private schools 
generally strive to comply with the regulations of the govern- 
ment, as a means of holding many of their students, who, 
otherwise, would leave them for state schools. 

Compulsory School Law and its Enforcement. — The com- 
pulsory school law requires the attendance of children from six 
to fourteen years of age, through the ordinary primary school 
course of six years. This law is administered by the local 
school authority. Its enforcement is so complete that the 
enrollment in the elementary schools, as shown by the sta- 
tistics of 1911-12, is 98 per cent of all children of school 
age, and this, with an average attendance of 92.6 per cent of 
the enrollment. It is conservatively estimated that 94 per 
cent of the schools of Japan are directly controlled by public 
authorities, either national or local, and that the other 6 per 
cent of the private schools are most all indirectly controlled 
by the state through the three different methods of supervision 
above described. 



Japan 355 

Education Regulated by Imperial Ordinance. — It is es- 
pecially noticeable that the regulation of education in Japan 
is not so much through legislation as through imperial or- 
dinances. Important education matters are first submitted 
by the Minister of Education to the privy council, then to the 
high educational council, which is composed of the presidents 
of the imperial universities and heads of certain other colleges 
and educational institutions, and finally to the cabinet, 
from which it is promulgated as an ordinance by the Emperor. 
These ordinances regulate all kinds of schools. In the Min- 
istry of Education all educational functions are grouped and 
directed through three distinct bureaus, (i) general or 
common education, (2) special education, such as the uni- 
versities, etc., and (3) technical education. 

The educational matters, regulated by law, are such as 
pertain to the formation of schools, districts, appointment 
of school officials, the financing of education, the pensioning 
of teachers, etc. 

THE KINDERGARTEN 

Unsettled Status of the Kindergarten. — The kindergarten 
does not form a part of the national educational system in 
Japan. As an institution, it is still in the balance, with the 
Japanese educators, as to its value in the education of children. 
All seem to be agreed that in the kindergarten there should 
be no systematic teaching of formal subjects, that play and 
song, with gifts and games, should constitute their work. 
They are also careful to call the rooms, in which the kinder- 
gartens do their work, by the name of " nursery rooms," 
and the teacher by the name of " nurse-mother " (Hobo). 
The fault is found with many of the kindergartens that they 



356 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

are too much like elementary schools. The kindergarten is 
for children, both boys and girls, from three to six years of 
age. 

It is interesting to an American student to note that the 
first kindergarten in Japan was organized, at the invitation 
of the government, by an American, in connection with the 
Tokyo Female Normal School, where it still exists as a part 
of the practice school of that institution. 

Moral Instruction in the Kindergarten. — To avoid the 
criticism made upon the Japanese kindergartens, that they 
were not religious, as required by the fundamental principle 
of Froebel's system, the government prescribes the " five 
relations " of Confucianism as the basis of moral instruction 
in the Chinese kindergarten. These schools are quite numer- 
ous, there being one government kindergarten and about two 
hundred public institutions, and half as many private ones. 
Notwithstanding this large number, it is estimated that not 
more than six in a thousand of the pupils entering the ele- 
mentary schools come from the kindergarten. 

Purpose. — The training in the Japanese kindergarten is 
very similar to that given in the European and American 
kindergartens. The purpose is primarily to develop ini- 
tiative in the child and to direct its play toward desirable 
moral and industrial habits. 

Fee. — The average annual fee charged in the kindergar- 
tens is about $1.50, but even this small fee prevents many 
from attending. The fees cover about one half of the ex- 
pense of the kindergartens, the remainder being met by as- 
sociations and by the prefectures. 

Teachers. — The teachers, or nurse-mothers, are required 
to hold a special license, or the certificate of an elementary 



Japan 2>S1 

teacher. In status and pay, the kindergarten teachers rank 
below the primary teachers. 

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 
(Ordinary Primary) 

Definition. — Elementary education, as defined by ordinance, 
means that schooHng which gives to children the rudiments 
of moral education and of civil education of the kind that 
makes the child a good subject of the Emperor and a useful 
citizen, together with such knowledge and skill and body 
development as are necessary for life. 

Course of Study. — The course covers, in general, six years, 
but it may be varied as local conditions demand. Pupils 
enter at six years of age and remain through the compulsory 
age period (6 to 14), or until they complete the course. The 
subjects taught are : morals, Japanese language, arithmetic, 
gymnastics, drawing, singing, manual work, and sewing for 
girls. In the upper grades, these subjects are continued with 
the additional ones, Japanese history, geography, science. 
Agriculture and commerce and the English language may be 
added. The industrial subjects are optional. A wide range 
of privilege is granted to the local authorities in the modifica- 
tion of the course of study to meet local conditions, the modi- 
fications being subject always to the approval of the prefect. 
A great weakness in the elementary schools, from the point 
of view of all critics, is the large class enrollment of 60 to 70 
(10 more under special conditions) allowed. The two reasons 
given for this are : (i) inabiUty to provide the finances for 
schools and equipment, and (2) the lack of properly certif- 
icated teachers. 



3S8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Separation of Sexes. — The separation of the sexes in the 
elementary schools is provided for in the ordinances, but in 
practice in this regard, as in most all others in Japan, it is 
left to the localities to adjust. The principle is that the in- 
struction given to the pupils must have regard to the different 
characteristics of the sexes and to the difference in their future 
life. The scheme is to segregate the girls in each year of the 
course, if there are enough for separate classes. As a par- 
tial means of providing for the overcrowded condition of the 
schools, or for remote and poor rural districts, a system of 
" half-day " schools has been in operation in some locahties, 
since 1903, with more or less satisfaction. A most encour- 
aging feature in the elementary schools of Japan is the high 
percentage of girls enrolled, which is almost equal to that of 
the boys, the per cents being 44 for girls and 66 for boys. 
It is very apparent, from these figures, that the mind of the 
Japanese has experienced a marvelous transformation in its 
attitude towards women in the last generation. 

Enrollment and Results. — The elementary school statis- 
tics for 191 2 are, number of schools, 25,750 ; teachers, 157,536 ; 
pupils, 7,021,661 ; percentage of enrollment was over 98 per 
cent of the total school population. These figures, on the 
basis of enrollment, are good, but in consideration of the over- 
crowded classroom and the consequent quality of work, the 
results are not so encouraging. 

Supplementary Courses and Local Industries. — Supple- 
mentary courses are provided for children who, for various 
good reasons, cannot continue in the regular elementary 
school, beyond the first four grades. These courses are two 
years in length and are devoted primarily to subjects that 
have a bearing on the local industries. They are under the 



Japan 359 

control of the local school authorities, subject to the approval 
of the prefect. These schools are most numerous in remote 
rural districts, in villages with limited resources, and in the 
districts where there are many poor families where children 
need to work to aid the home. The school hours for sup- 
plementary courses are arranged so as to interfere the least 
possible with the vocational work in which the children are 
engaged. Recent statistics show that the number of students 
enrolled in the ordinary elementary supplementary courses, 
in comparison with the number in tlie corresponding two 
years of the upper primary course, are as i to 40. The ratio 
of boys to girls in these two parallel two-year courses is also 
interesting. In the regular course there were 69 per cent boys 
and 31 per cent girls, while in the supplementary course 
there were 56 per cent boys and 44 per cent girls. That is, 
a larger percentage of boys than girls remain in the regular 
course, which is the opposite to what would be expected, as 
one would be inclined to think that more boys than girls at 
this age would be compelled to quit school to enter remunera- 
tive employment. The explanation is doubtless due (i) to 
the traditional lack of appreciation of the value of education for 
women and (2) to the greater need of the girls' service in the 
Japanese home. 

Private Elementary Schools. — The number of private 
schools, doing elementary work, is very small. This is doubt- 
less due to the fact that to be a substitute for the regular 
elementary school, under the compulsory school law, a private 
school must be approved, or must secure a special permit 
from the mayor for each child attending it, and in addition 
must have its pupils, at graduation, take an examination for 
admission into the higher state schools. The enrollment in 



360 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the private elementary school is, therefore, very small, being 
less than one per cent of the total elementary school enroll- 
ment. Furthermore, about two thirds of the private schools 
are in Tokyo, alone, where the class distinction is becoming 
more noticeable than elsewhere in Japan. 

Special Features of Elementary School Work. — (i) Voca- 
tional subjects, such as manual training, sewing, commerce, 
agriculture, and fisheries are taught in schools whenever 
they can be of local value. 

(2) School hygiene and medical inspection are specially 
provided for, and have been so since 1898. An ordinance 
empowers all schools that can afford it to employ properly 
licensed medical officers, whose duty it becomes to visit the 
schools at least once a month, and oftener in case of need, 
to inspect and advise concerning all things that pertain to 
the health of the children. He does not treat for diseases, 
but recommends such treatment. The statistics for 1911-12 
show that 61 per cent of all elementary schools engage school 
physicians. The health of the elementary school children is 
further cared for by the requirement of physical culture, or 
gymnastics, in all of the schools, from three to six hours per 
week. This work was begun in 1878 with the German method, 
but was changed in 1904 to the Swedish. Teachers are well 
trained for this work. 

(3) The course of study is controlled through a rigid system 
of copyrighting, or approving, the texts and charts by the 
Department of Education. Only from this list may the local 
authorities select their text. 

(4) Parents^ Meetings, for conference with teachers and 
officers, are becoming quite common in the Japanese schools. 
The importance of these, in a society where the public school 



Japan 361 

is a new institution and in which so many ideas are non- 
conventional, is very great, as a means of giving to the parents 
an understanding of their function in relation to the school. 

(5) Western music is taught in the Japanese schools be- 
cause of the unfitness of native music for school purposes. 
Japanese educators realize the importance of music in the 
education of children, as they have studied the effect of this 
subject in schools of other countries. The purpose of this 
instruction in music, as set forth by* the ordinance, is " to 
enable children to sing simple tunes, and at the same time to 
cultivate the sense of the beautiful, and to foster the moral 
susceptibilities of children." To meet this need, a well- 
selected list has been made of western melodies and Japanese 
words proper for children have been set to those tunes. 

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL 

(Chu Gakko) 

For Boys Only. — The middle schools are for boys only. 
They are established by the prefecture, or by a smaller unit, 
if needed. In every case, either for the establishment of a 
public or a private middle school, permission must be ob- 
tained from the Ministry of Education. Branch schools 
may be established for the convenience of boys who hve too 
far from the main school to attend it. The course in the mid- 
dle schools is five years, but in the branch schools, only three 
years. The maintenance of middle schools is the duty of the 
prefecture and of the subunits or individuals that organize 
them. They are all controlled by government regulations, 
to which many exceptions, everywhere, are made in practice. 

Course of Study. — The course oj study includes morals. 



362 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Japanese language, Chinese literature, foreign language, 
history and geography, mathematics, natural sciences, physics 
and chemistry, law and economics, drawing, singing, and 
gymnastics. A total of 28 to 30 hours per week is the amount 
of work required. About one fourth of the time is given to 
the Japanese and Chinese languages and hterature. The 
problem of a unitied course such as now exists versus two 
parallel courses to accommodate two types of students — one 
that is going on to higher schools, the other that is not — is 
receiving careful attention in Japan. Its solution is being 
found, in part at least, in the establishment of middle technical 
schools. 

Uniformity in the course of study and the methods of teach- 
ing in middle schools, so far as such may be said to exist, 
is secured by means of a syllabus, issued by the INIinister of 
Education. The thought uppermost in those regulations is 
that, " in the middle schools, instruction and culture must 
go together." The aim throughout seems to be to make the 
work practicable. The standard is not very high, in com- 
parison with the work in the German g}'mnasium or in the 
American high school. This low standard necessitates still 
another type of school, the three-year high school, to give 
further preparation for entrance to the imperial universities. 

Size of School Fixed by Ordinance. — The size of the middle 
school is fixed by ordinance at 400, and of the branch schools 
at 300. The purpose of this regulation is to guard against 
laxity of morals and inefficient instruction, thought to charac- 
terize a school of greater numbers. The suggestion is a good 
one for other countries, especially America, where in many 
of the large cities the high schools are reaching such over- 
grown proportions. 



Japan 363 

Distribution of the Graduates. — Graduates of the middle 
schools are distributed in several directions, (i) Many 
are appointed to official positions under heads of depart- 
ments, (2) A large percentage of them pass into the army 
and navy for military service, from which they had been 
excused while in school. (3) About half of them pass on 
to higher schools. (4) The others find employment in vari- 
ous vocations. 

Value of Middle School Diploma. — The diploma from 
the middle school has great value. Ih addition to its value 
in admitting the student to the higher schools, it is required 
of candidates for higher civil service examinations, barrister 
examinations, for doctor's examinations, and other high- 
grade ofiicial and professional positions. 

Demand for More Middle Schools. — The number of middle 
schools, in 191 2, was 314, with a teaching staff of 6092, and an 
enrollment of 125,304. The average age of the students 
from the middle school is over 19. About one fourth of the 
enrollment in middle schools is in private institutions, the 
greater number of which are in Tokyo, as in the case of the 
elementary private schools, and for the same reasons. One 
of the many pressing problems in Japan to-day is the provision 
of enough middle schools to supply the demand. Many more 
students are eligible for admission to these schools than can be 
accommodated. This is the more striking in view of the fact 
that the middle school is a tuition school, charging 75 cents 
to $1.50 per month. The Japanese youth are certainly dem- 
onstrating the fact that they desire and can take a secondary 
education. No other part of the educational work in Japan 
is doing more to uplift the nation than the middle schools 
with the adolescent boys. 



364 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

HIGHER SCHOOLS 

(Koto Gakko) 

Place in the System. — The higher schools follow the middle 
schools, with a three-year course. They are for boys only. 
There are three parallel courses, one preparing for law, one 
for medicine, and one for science. The three courses are also 
combined as a complete one for students not going to college. 
There are at present eight higher schools, numbered and 
located as follows : (i) Tokyo, (2) Sendai, (3) Kyoto, 
(4) Konasawa, (5) Kumamoto, (6) Okayama, (7) Yagoshima, 
(8) Nagoya. 

These eight institutions furnish accommodations for only 
about one fourth of the appHcations. Their enrollment is 
about 5000. They admit about 1500 pupils a year, selected 
by competitive examinations from about 5000 applicants. 

Course of Study. — The course of study in the higher school 
is about the equivalent of an American two-year college 
course. At least two foreign languages, EngHsh, German, or 
French, must be thoroughly studied to meet the require- 
ments of the universities. Latin may be taken by those 
preparing to enter law. These foreign languages offer a 
special difficulty to the Japanese students because of the great 
unlikeness to the linguistic structure of their vernacular. 
But a great deal of importance is attached to proficiency in 
foreign languages, to such an extent, that eight or nine hours 
per week are required in these subjects, and -fifteen hours 
per week in German, for students preparing for medicine. 
All students are expected, by the university faculties, to be 
well grounded in at least two foreign languages. These 
languages are quite generally taught by foreigners. 



Japan 365 

This school, as a type, may be compared to the French 
lycee or the German gymnasium. 

Maintenance and Fees. — All higher schools are main- 
tained by the central government. The special purpose for 
which they exist, as preparatory schools to the university, 
and the heavy expense involved in the support, make it 
urtadvisable and impracticable for local units, or individuals, 
to try to maintain them. 

A general fee of 30 yen ($15) is required of all students, 
annually, for laboratory equipment. Otherwise the school is 
free. All of the higher schools are provided with dormitories, 
as a means of caring better for the moral tone, and esprit- 
de-corps, which is very strong in all the higher schools. 

Privileges Awarded High School Graduates. — Special priv- 
ileges awarded the graduates of higher schools are : (i) ad- 
mission to the universities, (2) a Ucense, without examination, 
to teach in the normal or secondary schools, (3) further 
postponement of miHtary service for those entering the uni- 
versities. It is estimated that 99 per cent of the graduates 
of the higher schools enter, at once, upon their university 
studies. 

THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITIES 

Location and Purpose. — The imperial universities of 
Japan, of which there are now two — and two more provided 
for— have for their purpose, " the teaching of such arts and 
sciences as are required for the purposes of the state, and the 
prosecution of original research in such arts and sciences." 

The two universities, now running, are at Tokyo and 
Kyoto. Of the other two to be estabHshed, one is to be at 
Fukuoka, where already a medical college exists, and the other 



366 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

is to be in the northeast at Tohoka, where an agricultural 
college is now located. 

The Imperial University of Tokyo consists of a graduate 
hall and six colleges — law, medicine, engineering, literature, 
science, and agriculture. That of Kyoto has the same de- 
partments, excepting agriculture. 

Character of the Faculty and Student Body. — Tokyo has 
over 372 faculty members of the various ranks, 15 of whom are 
foreigners, and Kyoto has about 158, of whom 5 are foreigners. 
Tokyo has over 500 students, and Kyoto, more than 1200. 
These universities were at first organized after the German 
model of BerUn and Leipsic. They were also largely manned 
by foreign professors, but now almost the entire faculties are 
Japanese, who have studied abroad and are considered to be 
among the world's leading scholars. 

The student who enters the university has had fourteen 
years of training, and has come up through a long process of 
selection by competitive examinations. He is the equivalent 
of a graduate of an American two-year college. 

College Courses and Degrees. — The college course is 
three years in length, and leads to the title (not degree) of 
Gakushi, in whatever subject the student may have pursued. 
The graduate can then enter upon his work in University 
Hall (Daigakuin) for the doctorate (hakushi), which requires 
five years of work. This degree corresponds to the Doctor 
of Philosophy in western universities. 

All degrees are conferred by the ^Minister of Education, 
and not by the university. Degrees open the way to appoint- 
ment to important civil service and governmental positions, 
and are therefore in great demand. 

The Hokushi, or assembly of graduates with the doctor's 



Japan 367 

degree, recommend candidates for the degrees, and also have 
the power to revoke degrees for anything which involves 
gross immorality. These institutions are rapidly becoming 
educational centers, not only for Japan, but for the world of 
scholars studying abroad. 

Financial Support. — The universities are generally sup- 
ported by the state, which support is supplemented by fees, 
donations, and endowments. The annual budget is equal to 
that of the leading universities of other countries. 

German Model with Chinese Classics and Philosophy. — 
The Japanese have adopted the German model of Berlin 
and Leipsic for her university, as to equipment, course of 
study, admission requirements, lecture methods of instruc- 
tion, faculty qualifications, etc. The absence of Greek and 
Latin from the university courses and the presence of the 
Chinese Hterature are striking features, as is also the absence 
of all religious instruction. Able scholars maintain that this 
substitution of Chinese classics and the ethical philosophy 
of Confucius for the Latin and Greek literature and philos- 
ophy is a great loss to the Japanese mind. The Japanese 
mind as a result, they say, is rather a knowing than a thinking 
mind. 

Social Life. — The moral and social life of the universities 
is not as carefully supervised as would be possible in the dor- 
mitory system common in America. However, private dor- 
mitories are being built for this purpose, by individuals and 
by Y. M. C. A.'s. Their hostels usually accommodate about 
30 students. 

Civic and Social Rank of Faculty and Graduate. — The 
presidents of the universities are appointed by the Emperor 
upon the recommendation of the cabinet. The professors 



368 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

in the university are chosen from a certain order, represent 
a high social rank, and hold an honored position in the realm. 
In addition to their salary, they receive a pension, after 15 
years of service. They are loyal subjects of the Emperor, 
and seek to do his will and to teach others to do so. 

The graduates of the imperial universities enjoy the highest 
privileges open to their respective professions. 

Quite recently women, who are considered competent, are 
permitted to enter certain classes as silent listeners, but are 
denied the privilege of matriculating as regular students. 

GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOLS 

Ordinance on Girls' High Schools. — As has been stated 
elsewhere, coeducation in Japan is discontinued at the end 
of the six-year elementary school, and there are no middle 
schools for girls. 

The imperial ordinance on girls' high schools, now in 
force, was issued in 1899 and subsequently revised several 
times. The main difference between the regulations cover- 
ing these girls' schools and those for the boys' middle schools 
is the discouragement, amounting almost to prohibition, of 
examinations for grade promotions. The reason is that 
girls are thought to be too emotional and too easily excited, 
and thereby harmed morally and physically by examina- 
tions. The object of girls' high schools, as officially stated, 
is "to give higher general education necessary for women, 
that is for those who are to be of middle or higher social 
standing." 

Course of Study. — The course of study is quite uniformly 
four years, but may be lengthened or shortened by special 
courses. The subjects taught are : morals, Japanese Ian- 



Japan 369 

guage, English or French, history, geography, mathematics, 
science, drawing, household arts, sewing, music, and gymnas- 
tics. This course is variously modified by omissions and 
substitutions, by local authorities, who are allowed great 
freedom in this regard by the Minister of Education. The 
subjects that are obligatory in these schools are morals, lan- 
guage, and gymnastics. The syllabus, provided by the Depart- 
ment of Education, for the girls' high schools is practically 
the same as that for the boys' middle schools, only that the 
standards are not so high, and such subjects as physical 
education and household matters are shaped for the particu- 
lar needs of women. 

Education for Motherhood. — A course in Education is 
given to girls in these schools, which merits special notice. 
The purpose of this course is to give the girls general ideas 
on education as it pertains to the home and the functions of 
motherhood. The course includes the elements of psychology, 
child-study, child nurture, kindergarten methods, instruc- 
tion and training in home and state. Such a course as this 
would be excellent for girls in American high schools — in 
fact all girls. 

Popularity of Girls' High Schools. — In 191 2 there were 
250 high schools for girls, with an enrollment of 64,809 stu- 
dents. About one half of these schools are public and the 
other half private. The enrollment in girls' high schools is 
only about one half of the enrollment in the corresponding 
middle schools for boys. This unfavorable comparison is due 
to the ancient prejudice against the education of girls. The 
schools are exceedingly popular and the government is ex- 
periencing continuous difficulty in providing for the ever- 
increasing number of appHcants for admission to these girls' 



37© Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

high schools. The day is not far distant when the number 
of girls in these schools will equal the number of boys in the 
middle schools. 

Special Privileges Granted Graduates of Girls' High 
Schools. — The only special privileges granted to graduates of 
the girls' high schools are : (i) a license, without examina- 
tion, to teach and (2) admission to the higher female normal 
schools. 

The inspection of these high schools is under the regular 
inspectors of the boys' schools. It is apparent that there 
should be women inspectors to look after the school matters 
that are distinctively feminine. The public sentiment towards 
the education of girls is shown by the rate at which these 
schools have increased in number, in the six years, from 1906 
to 1912 ; schools, 113 to 250; students, 35,646 to 64,809. 

THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

State System. — As early as 1872, Japan began estabhsh- 
ing normal schools as a part of her modern educational system. 
In the development of these normal schools, Japan has found 
it necessary to make many and frequent modifications of her 
original plan, just as she has had to do in all other phases of 
her school work. 

Since 1907, the date of the last important changes in her 
system of normal schools, the scheme has been as here given. 

/. Elementary Teachers 

For the training of elementary teachers, each prefecture is 
required to maintain at least one normal school for each of 
the sexes, and is encouraged to maintain more, when possible. 
There are now eighty normal schools of this type. 



Japan 371 

Types of Normal School Courses. — There are two distinct 
normal school courses for the training of elementary teachers, 
and many short courses. 

(i) The first regular course admits graduates of a six-year 
elementary school, who are fourteen years of age or over. 
This course is four years in length and is practically the same 
for both sexes. Attached to many of these normals is a one- 
year preparatory course, for students coming from localities 
that do not have the full term elementary schools. 

(2) The second regular course admits graduates of the boys' 
middle schools and the girls' five-year high schools to a one- 
year course, and the graduates of the girls' four-year high 
schools to a two-year course. 

(3) Short courses are also opened, when needed, in dif- 
ferent prefectures for an additional supply of elementary or 
kindergarten teachers. 

(4) An important requirement is that a complete six-year 
elementary school must be attached to every normal school, 
for observation and practice purposes. Many of these schools 
also have a kindergarten. 

Courses of Study. — The subjects in the first regular course 
include the following, in general : morals, pedagogy, Japanese 
language, Chinese literature, history, geography, mathematics, 
natural science, physics, chemistry, law and economics (male), 
writing, drawing, manual work, music (female), gymnastics, 
English, household matters (female), sewing (female), agri- 
culture, and commerce (male). 

The subjects in the second regular course include those of 
the first regular course not taken by these students in the 
high school or middle school from which they are admitted 
to the normal. 



372 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

The standard of work in these schools is about the same as 
that in the girls' high schools and the boys' middle schools. 
The main difference lies in the point of view from which the 
work in the normal school is conducted. 

The special work in the normals, of course, is in pedagogy 
or education. These subjects are psychology, logic, theory 
of education, methods, history of modern education, educa- 
tional laws and regulations, school management, and school 
hygiene. 

The time given to education, including the practice work, 
is from two to fifteen hours per week, out of a total of thirty- 
four hours. 

Ideals Fixed by Imperial Ordinance. — The imperial or- 
dinance on normal schools emphasizes the importance of 
(i) the spirit of loyalty and patriotism, (2) the discipline 
of the mind, (3) the cultivation of virtues, (4) the habit of 
strict obedience, (5) the adaptation of methods of instruc- 
tion to the teachers' function, and (6) the development of 
individual initiative. 

These are thought to be the main features that characterize 
the training of teachers. 

The normal school occupies a position of great importance 
in the national scheme of education. The director of a normal 
school is a government official, appointed by the Emperor, 
upon the nomination of the Minister of Education. He is 
under the joint control of the prefect and the minister. His 
duties are not only in the management of the normal, but he 
is also required to inspect the elementary schools of the pre- 
fecture, to see that the work in them is in harmony with the 
training given in the normal. 

All normal schools are required to be provided with dor- 



Japan 373 

mitories, as a means of better education and control of the 
student-teachers. 

State Support of Normals. — Tuition is free in the normals 
and, in addition, an allowance is made to cover the cost of 
board and clothing and other incidental expenses. The regula- 
tions governing admission to the normals are so stringent that 
only about 25 per cent of the candidates are received. As a 
partial remedy of this, prefects are allowed to admit a certain 
number of students who receive no stipend, but pay their 
own expenses. 

Privileges and Obligations of Normal Graduates. — Several 
special privileges are extended to graduates of normal schools, 
(i) They receive prefectural certificates, as regular teachers 
in the prefectures; (2) the men are entitled to one year's 
volunteer miUtary service, instead of nine years' compulsory 
service; and (3) they are quaHfied to be appointed as civil 
ofhcials under heads of departments. 

The obligations placed upon normal school graduates bind 
them to teach immediately after their graduation ; first, 
for a period of two or three years, in schools designated by 
their prefect, and second, for periods of one to four years, 
in schools of their own choice, but approved by the prefect 
and the minister. 

This term of obligatory service is in recognition of the free 
instruction given in the normals. It also assures the schools 
a definite number of teachers. 

Teachers' Certificates and Standards. — There are several 
different grades of teachers' certificates, corresponding to the 
positions to be filled. These certificates may be secured not 
only by graduates from the normal schools, but from certain 
other approved schools and by passing examinations. For 



374 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the purpose of certificating these last two classes, a Teachers^ 
Certificate Committee is appointed in each prefecture. 

The subjects and standards for certificates by examination are 
about the same as those for graduation from the normal schools. 

The appointment, dismissal, and control of teachers are 
made by the prefect upon the nomination of the mayor. 

To secure the continuous growth of teachers, several methods 
are in operation, one of which is to increase salaries on the 
basis of profession advancement. 

A pension fund, for elementary school teachers, is estab- 
lished in each prefecture to which both the prefect and the 
state contribute. 

//. Secondary Teachers 

State Normals for Both Sexes. — Secondary teachers, as 
used in this discussion, means teachers in the elementary 
normal schools, the boys' middle schools, and the girls' high 
schools. The ordinance relative to higher normal schools 
defines them as institutions for the training of secondary 
teachers, with the meaning as above stated. 

There are two higher normal schools for each sex. The 
two for men are at Tokyo and Hiroshima ; the two for women 
are at Tokyo and Nara. These four higher normal schools are 
maintained by the government and are under the direction 
of the Minister of Education. In all essential respects the 
four schools are alike. For the women, the standards are 
somewhat lower, and there are fewer elective courses offered. 
The tendencies, however, are in the same direction for both. 

Special Features of the Higher Normal Schools. — The 
main features of these higher normal schools are: (i) The 
admission requirements are graduation from the middle 



Japan 375 

schools, the girls' high schools, or the lower normal schools, 
or an equivalent examination. 

(2) The courses are : (a) one-year preparatory, {h) three- 
year regular course, divided into several sections for the 
purpose of specialization, (c) a postgraduate course of one or 
two years, and {d) special short courses. 

(3) Elementary and middle schools, or girls' high schools, 
are attached to the normal schools for observation and prac- 
tice work. 

(4) The teaching staff are all government officials, and are 
appointed by the Emperor. 

(5) The tuition and support of the student- teachers are free, 
so far as the present appropriations will meet them. Stipends 
for this purpose range from full support down to nothing, 
there being some students who pay their own expenses, 
their desire for admission being so great. 

(6) All graduates are under obligations to teach for a 
term of years, varying on the basis of the former stipend. 

(7) The graduates may defer their term of teaching service 
to take the postgraduate course, or to attend the imperial 
university. 

(8) There are from 800 to 1000 students in the four normal 
schools proper, and these are about equally divided between 
the two sexes. 

(9) Many graduates of these schools are sent abroad, by 
the government, for special study. 

(10) For the women, the two female higher normal schools 
offer the highest educational opportunities provided for them 
by the government of Japan. For them, there are no govern- 
ment colleges and they are not admitted to the government 
universities as regular students. 



376 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Certificates of Secondary Teachers. — For the certification 
of secondary teachers, there is a committee on teachers' certifi- 
cates, appointed by the cabinet, upon the recommendation 
of the minister. This committee recommends the competent 
apphcants to the minister, who issues the certificate. Those 
ehgible are the graduates of the higher normals of several 
provincial training institutions, and of the normal courses 
in the fine arts and musical academies, and others recom- 
mended as competent. Each certificate specifies the type of 
work for which it is issued. But, owing to the great demand 
for teachers, there are many in service, who hold no certif- 
icates, though this number is decreasing. 

Several private institutions, by approval, have certificate 
privileges for their graduates. Likewise, graduates of foreign 
universities, upon their individual merits, may receive certif- 
icates. More state normal schools seem to be imperative. 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

Early Technical Education. — The first technical institu- 
tion in Japan was started by a British staff in 187 1. About 
the same time a department of technology was also opened. 
These two institutions combined in 1886 to constitute what is 
now the Engineering College in the Imperial University at 
Tokyo. During the same period agricultural colleges and 
commercial schools were opened at different places. How- 
ever, no great emphasis was placed upon technical education 
until 1903, though for the previous decade a number of special 
grants had been made by the Diet to encourage local govern- 
ments to develop such schools. 

Present System of Technical Schools. — Technical educa- 
tion, as the term is used in Japan, applies to all grades in 



Japan 377 

(i) agriculture, (2) engineering, (3) technology, (4) com- 
merce, and (5) navigation, etc. 

The technical schools, as they are now maintained, may 
be classified as follows: (i) colleges of engineering and 
agriculture in the imperial universities; (2) technical 
special colleges requiring graduation from boys' middle 
schools, and girls' higher schools for admission; (3) technical 
schools with three- or four-year courses admitting graduates 
of the six-year elementary course; (4) technical schools with 
three-year courses admitting pupils twelve years of age who 
have completed four years of the elementary school ; (5) tech- 
nical supplementary schools of various lengths. 

The technical special colleges are governmental institutions, 
and the technical schools are prefectural and local. The 
government regulations for the technical schools are about 
the same as those for the general schools. 

(i) Of the technical colleges, nine are provided for, and, in 
fact, seven or eight of them are already in operation. These 
colleges are at Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kumamoto, Sendai, 
Yonezawa, Akita, Kyoto, and Fukuoka. Each of these 
colleges emphasizes the subject matter and methods most 
valuable to its locality. 

So intense is the interest in this kind of work, the number 
of applications for admission to these institutions is far in 
excess of their capacity. The graduates quickly find posi- 
tions in the factories and workshops. The enrollment in 
several of these colleges runs over five hundred in each. 

(2) Of the middle technical schools, there are about 
forty, and of the elementary technical schools, there are 
about sixty. They are about equally divided between 
the sexes. 



378 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

(3) For agricultural education, in addition to the depart- 
ments in the imperial universities, there are several agricul- 
tural colleges and about one hundred elementary agricultural 
schools. 

(4) For commercial education, there are five government 
and several private colleges and about seventy-five lower 
grade commercial schools. 

(5) For fisheries and marine education, there are a govern- 
ment college and a dozen lower grade schools. 

(6) There are also a navigation college and several lower 
navigation schools for the imperial navy. 

(7) Finally, for education in the lower class industries and 
trades, there are several thousand supplementary schools 
with short courses. These are immensely popular. A large 
percentage of these short courses is agricultural. 

Problems of Teachers for Technical Schools. — With the 
rapid development of these technical schools one of the great 
difficulties experienced by the government has been to get 
teachers. To meet this need she has devoted a part of the 
money appropriated by the Diet to training technical teachers 
in training institutions attached to several of the colleges and 
universities. 

Importance of Technical Schools for Women. — The 
following figures will serve to illustrate the fact that these 
technical schools are of as great interest to women as to men in 
Japan. In 1910, of the 814,419 factory workers, in Japan, 
477,874, or 58 per cent, were women. Of these, over four 
per cent were girls, under fourteen years of age. Recent 
laws, to be enforced within the next ten years, forbid the 
employment of children under twelve years of age. 



Japan 379 

SPECIAL FEATURES IN JAPANESE EDUCATION 

Position of Japanese Women. — The position of women, 
in Japanese society, is distinctly Japanese, but no more so 
than woman's position in any country is peculiar to that 
country. In Japan she is expected to be a " good wife and 
a wise mother." For this purpose, therefore, is the educa- 
tion which Japan provides for her women. The problem 
of the selection of subject matter and the organization of a 
course of study and methods of teaching to harmonize with 
the ideals of this Japanese home has not been a simple one. 
The spirit of self-sacrifice has been the dominant one in the 
moral training of women, not only throughout the feudal 
period, but up to the present day as well. The Japanese 
conception of the house, or home, has always given the woman 
a place of obedience to the father, to the husband, and to the 
eldest son, and not a place of equality or independence. 
Shall these conditions be preserved in her new education? 
The new legal status places women upon an equality with 
men and makes no distinction between the two sexes in the 
exercise of private rights, so long as the woman remains 
single. But, after marriage, she continues under some of 
the former limitations of the house member theory of the 
home, but with a modern interpretation of them, looking 
in time, doubtless, to a full recognition of the equahty of 
husband and wife, both socially and legally. 

Likewise, the marriage relation of husband and wife is one 
that presents a vital educational problem. The introduction 
of the western ideas and standards of one wife and a sacred 
marriage relation between husband and wife will make a 
vital transformation in the Japanese home. The presence of 
mistresses in the Japanese families, even for the purpose of 



380 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

preserving the continuity of ancestral lineage, will be elimi- 
nated in the course of years. But social reorganization cannot 
come as fast as laws can be placed upon the statute books. 
The inner family life in Japan has not changed much. Not 
even a separate home for the young married couple is a 
present custom. The present divorce law, by which a wife 
may secure a divorce through the courts, an act formerly 
granted to her only by the will of her husband, is having its 
effect on the home. As to public rights, she has but few. 
Under rigid Hmitations she can vote for the members of 
local assemblies. 

In many of the professions women are already admitted 
on an equality with men. Especially is this true in teaching 
and medicine. And recently a few women have been ap- 
pointed to civil positions, under heads of departments, in 
postal and railway service. 

The elevation of Japanese women is just as certain as was 
the opening of the commercial ports of Japan, in the clash and 
battle of Occidental and Oriental ideals. Stimulating and 
lifting her beyond the plane granted her at present, in the 
laws and the schools of Japan, are the missionary schools and 
societies from the Christian countries. 

For the higher education of women, the government has 
only the higher normal schools. It should be added, however, 
that just recently the imperial universities have permitted 
women of special qualifications to enter certain departments 
as silent observers, but not as matriculated students. Just so 
have they been tolerated in the universities of other countries, 
where they now rival the men in full equaHty of privileges 
and accomplishments. 

In the meantime, such private schools as the Woman's 



Japan 381 

University, founded at Tokyo in 1901, and Miss Tsuda's 
English Institute at Tokyo, will be training leaders for the 
government in its subsequent work for women. 

University of Waseda and Private Initiative. — A type of 
private initiative in Japanese education is found in the Uni- 
versity of Waseda, founded in 1882 by Count Okuma, one 
of Japan's greatest statesmen. 

There are two main reasons for the rapid development of 
such private universities in Japan. First, the ideal of educa- 
tion insisted upon in these state institutions was much too nar- 
row and stiff for a rapidly developing people, like the Japanese. 
Second, the imperial universities cannot accommodate the 
rapidly increasing number of graduates from the higher 
schools who desire a college course. 

The very idea of a private university was antagonistic to 
Japanese officialdom, but Count Okuma stood for freedom of 
learning. He had been a member of the imperial cabinet, 
and at one time a minister of the foreign affairs, which posi- 
tions had given him a prominence in the nation. For twenty 
years, he struggled against oppositions, but gradually gained 
favors, until at last, the Emperor himself visited Waseda, 
and thus stamped the approval of the realm upon the institu- 
tion. To-day Waseda has nearly two hundred professors 
and more than seven thousand students, doing work in all 
of the departments of a modern university, whose sole pur- 
pose is to turn out men. Dr. Sanal Tokata is the able presi- 
dent of Waseda. There are other similar private colleges 
in Japan, but of less strength and prominence. 

Moral Education. — For centuries the main purpose in 
Japanese education has been distinctly moral. It was so 
throughout the seven centuries of feudal education in which 



382 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

the higher classes were taught their responsibiUty as members 
of the ruling class. The first school code declared that pri- 
mary education was for the purpose of moral and civic educa- 
tion. Two hours a week are given in primary schools to 
definite concrete instruction in morals, in accord with the 
Imperial Rescript of 1890. In the middle schools one hour 
per week is given, and in girls' high schools two hours, and in 
other schools, at least one hour per week, everywhere keeping 
in view the particular purpose the members of each group 
of students may have ahead of them. The Department of 
Education compiles special tests in moral instruction for use 
in all grades of schools. In the Christian schools, of course, 
the system of Christian ethics is taught and through the 
instrumentality of such ideals, women, especially, are being 
Ufted up to a higher moral sphere. 

The Imperial Rescript on Moral Education. — The principle 
of moral education in Japan is set forth in an Imperial 
Rescript issued in 1890, by His Majesty, the Emperor. 

The necessity for this action lay in the confusion and un- 
rest regarding religious education, since the passage of the 
law of 1872, establishing the new system of education. The 
educational institutions of Europe and America had been thor- 
oughly studied for every suggestion that would be beneficial 
in shaping the different types of school for the highest service 
to the Japanese nation. The radical advocates of the for- 
eign ideas, theories, and methods favored the elimination 
of the old and conventional Japanese notions, customs, and 
practices ; but the conservative element clung to the old. 
Some desired a system of moral instruction based on pure 
ethics, others desired Confucianism, Buddhism, or Christianity. 
Thus, for eighteen years there was no recognized standard 



Japan 383 

or system of ethical instruction. So, in October, 1890, the 
Emperor issued the Rescript which from that time on has 
been the controlling principle in moral education. It has no 
connection with any system of religion. For the benefit of 
foreigners who desire to know the facts regarding moral 
education in Japan, the Minister of Education caused a transla- 
tion of the Rescript to be made by a commission of eminent 
scholars, in 1907, for distribution. The translation is as 
follows : — 

'' Our Imperial Ancestors have founded our Empire on a 
basis broad and everlasting and have deeply and firmly im- 
planted virtue ; Our subjects ever united in loyalty and 
filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated the 
beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental char- 
acter of Our Empire, and herein also Hes the source of Our 
Education. Ye, Our Subjects, be filial to your parents, 
affectionate to your brothers and sisters ; as husbands and 
wives be harmonious, as friends, true ; bear yourselves in 
modesty and moderation ; extend your benevolence to all ; 
pursue learning and cultivate arts ; and thereby develop 
intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers ; furthermore, 
advance public good and promote common interests ; always 
respect the Constitution and observe the laws ; should emer- 
gency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the State ; 
and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of our Imperial 
Throne, coeval with heaven and earth. So shall ye not only 
be our good and faithful subjects, but render illustrious the 
best traditions of your forefathers. 

'' The Way here set forth is indeed the teaching bequeathed 
by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed ahke by Their 
Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all ages and true 



384 Modern Education in\ Europe and the Orient 

t 

in all places. It is Our wish to. lay it to heart in all reverence, 
in common with you, Oijr subjects, that we may all thus 
attain to the same virtue.'*^—- 

The Rescript is read in all the schools four times a year. 
The manner of reading, the silence, breathless with reverence, 
in which it is received by the students, young and old, is a 
profound testimony to the sacredness of the Emperor's de- 
sires for his people, says a recent observer. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

Religious Liberty for the Individual. — Strictly speaking, 
Japanese education in the schools has nothing to do with 
religion. Her school education is concerned wholly with this 
world and this life, in a materialistic sense. Religion, in 
Japan, is taught in the homes and the temples, and not in 
the schools. In 1888, Japan by special Edict of the Emperor, 
committed herself to the principle of religious Hberty for the 
individual. The Imperial Rescript of 1890, on moral educa- 
tion, draws the distinction as closely as it can be drawn be- 
tween religious and moral education. This act places Japan 
in the class with France and the United States on the subject 
of reUgion and education. 

Limitations of Japan's Religions. — In comparison with 
these countries, Japan is at a great disadvantage, because 
each of her religions, Shintoism, her indigenous faith, and 
Buddhism, her adopted faith, is lacking in characteristics 
necessary to the rehgious faith of a people who aspire to be 
world citizens. Shintoism is purely local, it has no universal 
elements and, consequently, outside of Japan, dies. Bud- 
dhism is lacking in the ideals of social order and is of no value 
except as grafted into the social order of the people whom she 



Japan 385 

invades. Buddhism is dead in her own native land. As an 
enlightened world nation, Japan will have to give her 
people a positive religion that fulfills the conditions of the 
social organism and at the same time meets the sanctions 
of an endless and infinite life of consciousness. 

Virtues of these Religions. — Shintoism develops an in- 
tense love of country and reverence of Emperor and ances- 
tors. Loyalty and filial piety are her virtues. Buddhism 
brought to this native social order, (i) visible objects of 
worship, which she claimed to be the Shinto deities in new 
form; (2) intellectual individuaHsm, for which she founded 
schools and temples ; and (3) her doctrine of final individual 
annihilation or absorption, her paradoxical denial of the 
individual's worth, which she had fostered. All of this she 
grafted into the social order of Shintoism. Confucianism 
brought to this a moral code which seemed to strengthen the 
virtues of Shintoism. This fusion of these three systems of 
thought and practice is the Japanese religion of to-day. 
Its very base and foundation, its very heart and core, is 
Shintoism. Statistics for 191 1 show 74,141 Shinto priests, 
53,042 Buddhist priests, and 2142 Christian ministers. 
Confucianism passed away in 1868, with the] Shogunate, 
which it had created. Buddhist domination had closed with 
the twelfth century. Shintoism revived in 1868, when 
Japan began her struggle for national ascendancy. For 
2500 years Shintoism preserved the Japanese social order, 
with the nation in seclusion. Can Shintoism continue to do 
this for Japan, with her nation a world people? It is doubtful. 

Ethics Substituted for Religion in Schools. — In the place 
of rehgiDn in her schools, Japan is teaching ethics, and she 
is doing this with force and vigor. Her system of instruction 



386 Modern Education in. Europe and the Orient 

is thorough. No other nation is doing more of this kind of 
education. The essential pomts in Japan's moral program 
are : obligations (i) to self, (2) to family, (3) to society, 
(4) to state, (5) to humanity, and (6) to nation. 

The positive religious missionary education in Japan is being 
conducted by the Christian church, schools, and associations, 
and by returned Japanese students from Christian schools in 
foreign lands. Ethics in the schools will help to make the 
children, as future citizens, honest and trustworthy — what 
Japan needs and appreciates in her relations with other people. 
A new social organization and a new intellectual and reHgious 
environment will in a long term of years have an appreciable 
effect upon Japan's religious consciousness. 

The Caste System. — Practically all children in Japan 
attend the public primary schools, without any social dis- 
tinction. However, in Tokyo, especially, there is an unrest 
among the upper social classes, which is resulting in the es- 
tablishment of private schools for the rich. To attend any 
other school than that of the public school system, provisions 
must be obtained from the mayor, or the headman of the 
prefect. This has been true since the promulgation of the 
education code of 1872. Prior to that date, for several cen- 
turies, the military and feudal caste systems had prevailed. 
During that period, education was chiefly for the samurai, 
the military class. Only the simplest elements of reading, 
writing, and arithmetic were taught to the other castes, the 
farmers, the artisans, and merchants. 

Socially, there exist in Japan to-day three distinct classes : 
(i) the nobihty, of which there are four or five thousand; 
(2) the gentry (shigoku or samurai) with over two millions; 
and (3) the commoners (heimin) with more than 44 millions. 



Japan 387 

But, in the eye of the law, the-class distinctions passed away 
with the feudal system. The new social order in Japan is 
industrial and commercial. The representatives of the former 
samurai, or military class, are engaged in some form of pro- 
ductive business. With this new social order has come a new 
standard of honor and integrity. The social restlessness, re- 
ferred to above, is of the smaller group and not of the general 
social order. The public school system of Japan is the certain 
death knell of her former social caste system. 

Textbook Regulations. — When the new education regime 
went into effect, the old books in use in the feudalistic schools 
were of no further general use. The state tried several dif- 
ferent methods of providing texts, during the first thirty- 
five years of this period, but each of them developed some 
objectionable feature. 

The present method, provided by the Ordinance of 1903, is 
essentially as follows : — 

(i) All books to be used in the elementary schools must 
be copyrighted by the Department of Education, so that no 
private persons may have an interest in them from a business 
point of view. This rule apphes to the following subjects 
without exception : morals, Japanese history, geography, and 
readers, because of their civic and moral significance. Texts 
in other subjects may be copyrighted by others than the de- 
partment but must be approved by the minister. 

(2) The prefect of each prefecture chooses the text from 
the approved lists. 

(3) The printing of texts is by private contracts, under 
rigid specifications. 

(4) The quality of the books has been greatly improved 
and the cost reduced more than one half, by this latest method. 



388 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

(5) Since 1908, the texts were revised under a system of 
reformed spelling. 

Medical Education. — Japan has two government medical 
colleges, one in the Imperial University at Tokyo, the other 
in the Imperial University at Kyoto. Each has two sections, 
one of medicine, the other of pharmacy. The one at Tokyo 
is the most prominent. The course is four years in medicine 
and three in pharmacy. At Tokyo there is a hospital with 
over 600 beds, divided into wards for the different diseases. 
There are two examinations, one at the end of the second 
year, the other at the end of the fourth year. In 1907, in 
Tokyo, there were over 700 students in medicine and phar- 
macy. In her medical education Japan has followed the 
German model, and many of the professors in medical schools 
were trained in Germany. Surgery is in common practice 
in Japan and all of her other instruction is modern. The 
Chinese system of medicine, once prevalent in Japan, is 
now entirely rejected. In addition to the two state medical 
colleges, there are in Japan three prefectural medical colleges, 
very similar to the government college in standards and 
instruction. These are located at Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya. 
There are also two private medical colleges of approved stand- 
ards, one at Tokyo, the other at Kumamoto. In each of 
these five medical colleges there are from 500 to 600 students. 

For medical practice, a license is necessary from the state 
department. 

There are quite a number of women physicians practicing 
medicine in Japan, as in this profession she is legally on the 
same basis as men. But the government has not provided 
for her medical education. Recent statistics show about 
two hundred and fifty women physicians in actual practice 



Japan 389 

and there are many others serving as nurses. They get 
their medical education in private medical colleges in Japan 
and in foreign medical colleges. 

The Woman's Medical College at Ushigome, Tokyo, had 
300 students in 1914, and had already graduated 170 women 
physicians. The government grants these graduates licenses 
without examinations. 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Write a thesis on Japan's control of education in Korea. 

2. What features of Japan's present educational system are due to 
the influence of (a) Buddhism, {b) Militarism, (c) Confucianism, 
{d) Feudalism, (e) Christianity? 

3. Account for the nature of the Japanese kindergarten. 

4. Why are the Japanese more responsive to western educational 
ideas than are the Chinese? 

5. Compare the educational status of Japanese women with that 
of the Chinese women. 

6. Write a thesis on Christian missionary educational work in 
Japan. 

7. Compare the medical education in Japan with that in China. 

8. Trace American influences in Japanese education. 

9. What do you consider the special merits and special demerits of 
the Japanese school system ? 

10. Compare the Japanese universities with your state university, 
as to (a) organization, {b) faculty, (c) courses, {d) student body, 
(e) degrees, (/) special privileges of graduates. 

Special Bibliography 

America to Japan, Linsay Russell, 1Q15, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 

Bain, H. Foster. The Imperial Universities of Japan, Popular Scien- 
tific Monthly, March, 19x2. 

Burton, E. Margaret. The Education of Women in Japan, 1914, 
Fleming H. Revell Company, Chicago. 



390 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Education in Japan, Special Topics, United States Commissioner of 

Education Reports, 1898 to 1915. 
Good, J. P. Fundamental Principles of Japanese Education, School 

Review, Vol. XVIII. 
Griffis, William E. Education in Korea, in Monroe's Cyclopedia of 

Education, 191 2, The Macmillans, New York. 
GuLiCK, Sidney L. Education of the Japanese, 1905, Fleming H. 

ReveU Company, Chicago. 
Japan to America, 191 5, The Japan Society of America, G. P. Putnam's 

Sons, New York. 
KiKUCHi, Baron. Japanese Education, 1909, John Murray, London. 
Lewis, Robert E. The Educational Conquest of the Far East, 1903, 

Fleming H. Revell, Chicago. 
Longford, J. H. The Story of Korea, 191 1, New York. 
NiSHiYAMA, S. Japanese Elementary Schools, Education, Vol. XXX ; 

Japanese Secondary Education, Vol. XXXI. 
Sharp, W. H. The Educational System of Japan, 1906, Government 

Central Press, Bombay, India. 
Thwing, Charles F. Education in the Far East, 1909, Houghton 

Mifflin Company, New York. 



CHINA 
CHAPTER XI 

HER HISTORY 

Legendary Traditions. — The Chinese claim, as the cradle 
of their race, the valley of the Wei River, where their fore- 
fathers, some thirty centuries B.C., made their home. The 
legendary traditions of the Chinese literature tell of their 
first Emperor, Fuhi (2852 B.C.) who organized the Chinese 
social life out of a state of chaos, characterized by the absence 
of family life. Then, the traditions say, the Chinese were 
hunters and fishermen, but a century later became agri- 
culturists. Other like claims are made to their early national 
existence. 

Early Historical Period and Feudalism. — The strictly 
historical period of China had its beginning with the Chou 
dynasty, 11 22 B.C. It was then that the feudal system arose 
and literature and the fine arts were developed. During this 
period nomadic life disappeared, agriculture became the 
universal industry, and public works flourished. This is the 
classical period, which, pictured in ancient poetry, affects so 
vividly the imagination of the Chinese people. It was near 
the close of this period when Confucius was born (551 B.C.). 
The closing years of this period were marked with political 
disturbances and social decay. 

Permanent Empire Established. — The succeeding Em- 

391 



392 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

peror Tsin (255-206 B.C.) restored order, abolished feudalism, 
destroyed literature, began the Great Wall, extended and 
united the empire. The work of this emperor established 
the real foundation of the political China of to-day. During 
the next ten centuries China began opening up foreign trade 
with Rome and other countries, the Jews, Buddhists, and 
Christians entered China, the Confucian texts were edited 
and annotated, the system of competitive examinations es- 
tablished, the act of printing introduced, large libraries built 
up, and great scholars produced literature. 

The Modern Manchu Dynasty. — The Modern Era in 
Chinese history began with the Tatsing, or " Great Pure," 
dynasty in 1644, when a Manchu prince from the north es- 
tablished himself as emperor. The Manchus were assimilated 
to the manners and customs of the Chinese but they became 
a distinct military and official caste. The Manchu dynasty 
remained continuously on the throne for 267 years, or until 
their overthrow, in 191 1, by the establishment of the republic. 

The Struggle from Non-Intercourse to World Commerce. — 
The most significant events in these two and three quarters 
centuries of China's modern history have grown out of her 
attempts at mingling with other nations, whose peoples and 
civilizations were so radically different from her own. This 
led to her policy of non-intercourse, a narrow and exclusive 
pohcy, intended to protect China from the aggressions of the 
foreigners. This struggle reached a climax in China's trade 
relations with British India, in which the opium traffic was 
deeply involved. At this time, 1842, China signed her first 
commercial treaty with England, and this was followed, in 
1844, by treaties with the United States and France, all look- 
ing to an increased trade with China. Then followed the 



China 393 

treaty of Tientsin, 1858, which extended the diplomatic 
relations of these countries to the Chinese court and guar- 
anteed the toleration of Christianity in China. The last 
fifty years of China's history can be written around her com- 
mercial treaties with foreign countries. During this period 
the attitude of the United States has been the most amicable 
of all the nations. Her Reed-Burlingame treaties, 1858 to 
1868, by which America guaranteed that no American vessel 
should engage in contraband trade with China, did much 
toward bringing about friendly relations between China and 
the Christian powers. The final breaking down of Chinese 
isolation came in 1873, when the imperial ruler admitted 
to his audience envoys from other countries, thereby recog- 
nizing the Great Powers of Europe and America as the equals 
of China. 

China's Present Problem — Resistance and Reconstruc- 
tion. — The war of 1894-95 with Japan, which resulted in 
the independence of Korea, a loss to China, and an indemnity 
of 200,000,000 taels to Japan, with a greatly modified com- 
mercial treaty with her, showed a weakness in Chinese gov- 
ernment that surprised the world and alarmed China. The 
financial stress, brought upon China by this Chino-Japanese 
war and other international complications, drove China into 
the loan markets of the world, through which the great money 
powers have gotten a strong hold on her securities and in- 
dustries. The political result of this series of embarrassing 
events has been the division of China's leaders into two rival 
factions, upon the subject and method of resistance and re- 
construction. The Boxer outrages of 1900-01, and other 
similar movements, were expressions of this political rupture 
in China. They resulted in further humiliation and financial 



394 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

embarrassment to China, at the hands of the invading com- 
bined powers. The next ten years of internal strife and 
pohtical and commercial aggressions from without brought 
the downfall of the monarchy and the inauguration of a re- 
public, February, 191 2. The three years of this republican 
era were stormy ones, and, in December, 191 5, took shape 
in a plebiscite which resulted in the return to a monarchy. 

HER INDUSTRIES 

Agricultural Industries. — The main industries in China 
are agriculture, fisheries, manufacture, mining, and commerce. 
The leading industry is agriculture, which consists mainly 
in growing all kinds of cereals, grains, cotton, fruits, tea, silk, 
and poppy for opium manufacture. The land in China is 
held by families on the payment of an annual tax. The saga 
bean, tea, and silk are possibly the products grown in greatest 
quantities for exports. 

The growth of the poppy, for opium use, is rapidly declin- 
ing, and, under the joint action of the Chinese and the British 
Indian governments, will be discontinued in 191 7. Already 
both the growth of the poppy and the importation of opium 
from India are forbidden in 14 of the 22 provinces. 

China produces about 27 per cent of the world's silk supply, 
and she exports annually about seven and a half millions of 
dollars' worth of tea. 

Manufacturing Industries. — The manufacturing indus- 
tries are mainly cotton and woolen mills, of which there are 
45 in China. Flour and rice mills and iron works also 
abound. But most all of these manufacturing plants are 
very crude. 

The mining industries are very important, especially in 



China 395 

coal, as China is one of the leading coal countries of the world, 
there being coal in most all of her 22 provinces. Iron ores 
are also abundant, and in certain sections copper, tin, gold, 
and silver are found. And in the Upper Yangsti and in Shensi 
province, petroleum is being worked. For the development 
of these mining industries, foreign capital is greatly needed, 
and, to this end, propositions are under way, by the new 
government, to change the mining laws in such a way as to 
encourage and protect foreign capitalists in this work. 

Commerce. — China's foreign commerce is guaranteed to 
the leading countries, by most favorable treaties, through 
which her ports are thrown open to them. Her net imports 
in 19 13 amounted to approximately $500,000,000 and her 
exports to $350,000,000. 

THE RECENT REPUBLIC 

President and Congress. — China became a republic on 
February 12, 191 2. This ended, for a brief period, the Ta 
Chi'ing Ch'ao (Great Pure dynasty), or Manchu dynasty, 
that dated from 1644 a.d. The following sketch of the 
republican government is given in the present tense, although 
a majority of the provinces voted in December, 19 15, to re- 
turn to a monarchical form of government. 

The government is composed of a president, vice-presi- 
dent, senate of 274 members, and a house of representatives 
of 596 members. The method of election is similar to that 
in the United States : the members of the upper house are 
chosen by the provincial assembly, and those of the lower 
house by popular election on the population basis. 

The president is assisted by a council of state, which is 
composed of from 50 to 70 members, appointed by the presi- 



396 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

dent. The executive authority is vested in the president, 
through a secretary of state, who is assisted by the nine heads 
of departments. There is no cabinet. 

The administration is carried on through ten departments, 
such as exist in other governments. The seat of the govern- 
ment is in Peking. The republic has adopted a new flag in 
which the old yellow dragon has been replaced by five stripes 
— crimson, yellow, white, blue, and black, to denote the five 
races comprised in the Chinese people, Mongol, Chinese, 
Manchu, Turki, and Tibetan. 

The presidential term is five years. A president may suc- 
ceed himself once only. The election occurs three months 
prior to the expiration of a term. The first president was 
elected October 6, 1913, and was inaugurated October 10, 
1913. His name is Yuan Shih K'ai. 

The new constitution was promulgated by the president 
of the republic, May i, 1914. It gives the president more 
than ordinary power in a republican form of government. 

Suffrage. — Suffrage is extended to male citizens twenty-one 
years of age, or older, who (i) pay a direct tax equal to $2 per 
annum, or over, or (2) possess immovable property, equal 
to $500, or over, or (3) are graduates of an elementary or 
higher school, or have equivalent education, and (4) who do 
not smoke opium. 

Local Government. — Local government is conducted 
through the province, prefecture, district, and town and 
villages, each with its official governing body. There are 
twenty-two provinces. 

There are no local legislative bodies and no native can be 
a civil official in his own province. The civil governor of the 
province is appointed by the president of the republic. 



China 397 

Control of Schools. — The local control of the primary 
and lower grade industrial schools is with the district officials, 
assisted by the city, town, or village officials. The middle, 
normal, and higher industrial schools are controlled by the 
provincial officials. The central control of all schools, in- 
cluding the technical and the universities and the affiliated 
private and mission schools, is through the Minister of Educa- 
tion. The present incumbent in this office is Tsai Yuan Pei. 

Laws Not Enforced and Government Unstable. — The 
above plan of government was a partial embodiment of the 
ideals of the reformers who were in touch with the western 
governments. But its enforcement, except in the most limited 
way, was impossible with the masses of the Chinese people. 
As a result, the laws have been widely disregarded. The 
reactionary factions have prevented much progress from being 
made. The return to a monarchy will not vitally change the 
plan of government. 

THE OLD EDUCATION 

Education as a Function of the State. — Education in 
China, with some claims to organization, can be traced back 
to the middle of the twenty-fourth century B.C., though with 
but little authentic data with which to establish any definite 
theory of its principles and practices. This must be inferred 
from the outcome shown in subsequent periods more reliable 
and established in history. But it appears that, in this early 
period, the state even then recognized education as a function 
of the state, to be cared for by the educational officers of the 
state. The examination system, for the purpose of providing 
officers for the state, in use in recent days, apparently had its 
origin with one of these early emperors, who examined his 



398 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

officers periodically for retention or promotion. And it seems 
reasonably certain that colleges for the education of princes 
and sons of nobles and officials, and other promising youths 
existed, together with schools for the common people. 

Aim, Individual and National. — The content of the educa- 
tion in these early institutions was largely moral, religious, 
and military, and the methods of instruction were necessarily 
concrete and personal, growing out of the relation of man to 
man. The aim of this education was doubtless individual 
and national, both looking to the welfare and stability of so- 
ciety and the state. Such a scheme and practice of education 
as this must have been, could not have done more than trans- 
mit from one generation to the next the customs, beliefs, 
and practices of the past, as the nature of Chinese education 
is found to be throughout the subsequent historic periods of 
Chinese life. 

Education by Recapitulation, Twelfth Century B.C. — The 
highest efficiency of the Chinese ancient educational system, 
according to their own critics, existed during the period from 
the latter part of the twelfth century to the middle of the 
third century B.C. Then education was quite general through- 
out the capital cities and the feudal states of the empire. The 
content of this education seems to have been merely the ele- 
ments of physical, moral, and intellectual education, necessary 
to daily Hfe, in a stable society that was already, at that time, 
over two thousand years old. The main point to observe is 
that, in the early dawn of history, the Chinese were doing an 
educational work not surpassed by any other people of those 
days and that this education was of the unchanging type of 
" education by recapitulation," as so aptly characterized by 
Monroe. The content of the curriculum is fully and minutely 



China 399 

described in the " Book of Rites," one of the present-day Chinese 
classics. It consisted of the six virtues, the six praiseworthy 
actions, and the six arts, all of which were designed to prepare 
for daily life. The training of both boys and girls was care- 
fully outlined, by years, from childhood to manhood and 
womanhood and old age, separating the boys and girls in this 
training as early as seven years of age. At ten years of age, 
by this scheme, the girl was assigned to the home, where she 
was to remain, with an education not intellectual but domestic. 
Thus early, long before the Christian era, was established by 
the code of feminine virtues and moral conduct, as well as 
the social position of the Chinese woman, for the long subse- 
quent period of more than two thousand years. There are 
evidences in the " Book of Rites " and the "Aphorisms of Con- 
fucius " that the memoriter method, characteristic of later 
days, was not practiced so exclusively one in these earHer 
times. Great emphasis was placed by these ancients upon 
the moral character of the teachers, as, through imitation, as 
they correctly claimed, the child would reproduce the Ufe and 
acts of the teacher. 

Origin of Examination System. — An examination system 
for graduation and promotion from one school to another, 
all along the Hne, from the lowest to the highest, was evidently 
in existence during the early part of this period, possibly five 
hundred years before the birth of Confucius. This system 
was for the purpose, it appears, of training, by a sifting and 
selecting method, a body of men for official positions in prov- 
ince and state. These examinations for state officers were 
held every three years, in the departments and in the state 
capital. Kuo summarizes the significance of this system, 
in substance, as follows : (i) it shows that the system was 



400 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

democratic, as it was open to all who possessed the necessary 
qualifications ; (2) it shows that the educational system, like 
the system of the government, had a high degree of centrali- 
zation ; (3) it indicates clearly that the tests to which the can- 
didate was put were based on real ability and moral character, 
and not merely literary skill, as in the system of later genera- 
lions; and, finally (4) it reveals the fact that all officers were 
chosen from the colleges, thus giving the school system a 
prominent place in the life of the nation. 

Confucian Philosophy and Education. — The philosophical 
period in Chinese ancient education, extending from the 
middle of the sixth century to the third century B.C., is in- 
separably centered in Confucius (557 B.C.) and his disciple, 
Mencius (372 B.C.). This, the most significant period in 
Chinese education, as to far-reaching social, intellectual, and 
moral effects, was preceded and accompanied by a decay of 
the state system of education of the earlier period and the 
substitution therefor of private schools. This change was 
largely the result of wars between the feudal provinces and 
the emperors, and the consequent disintegration of political, 
industrial, and social life. Into this ruptured condition of 
society and state, Confucius was born, as it turned out, to 
become the intellectual and moral organizer of the education 
of the Chinese for centuries to come. 

Confucius collected and edited the teachings and customs 
of the ancient Chinese people in four books, (i) the "Book of 
Odes," (2) the " Book of History," (3) the "Book of Changes," 
and (4) the " Book of Rites," which with two others written 
by him, (5) the " Book of Filial Piety" and (6) the "Book of 
Spring and Autumn Annals," became in time the foundation 
of the education system of China. He and his disciple, 



China 401 

Mencius, two centuries later, urged the reestablishment of 
the state system of education, but to Httle or no avail. 

Purpose of Confucianism. — However, the writings of Con- 
fucius, as a religious and ethical philosophy, became the foun- 
dation and content of Chinese education to this day. His 
supreme purpose, in his writings, was to revive, preserve, 
transmit, and perpetuate the ideals and teachings of the 
ancient Chinese. This he has done nobly well, for China of 
to-day, in her social and moral consciousness, is not vitally 
different from what she was in the days of her greatest sage. 
In fact, she is more deeply Confucian in recent centuries than 
she was in the Hfetime of Confucius. Other schools of Chinese 
philosophy existed at that time, lessening the influence of his 
work. The reigning emperor in 213 B.C. suppressed the 
teaching of Confucius, because of the lack of harmony between 
his edicts and the principles of Confucianism. But, in the 
year 191 a.d., the Confucian classics were restored to the 
people, by special edict, and the scholars of the day expounded 
them for the revival and guidance of the moral and intellectual 
life of the Chinese people. This system of interpretations 
of the classics was finally set aside, in the twelfth century, 
for a new system, which became the controlHng one down to 
the present time, for the literati, state, and people. 

Effect of Confucian Education. — Wherever the content 
of these great classics has been kept uppermost in the educa- 
tion of the people, great moral good has been the result, but 
their formal study, quite generally prevalent, has had a dead- 
ening effect upon the Chinese mind. The formal study came 
to be the method, as a result of the rigid competitive examina- 
tion system which was based on the Chinese classics. Edu- 
cation existed as a means to poHtical preferment and not as 



402 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

an end in character development. Popular education was at a 
low ebb and was quite generally left to private enterprise and 
public charity ; and even this pertained to the most elementary 
training for the affairs of daily life. The schools in the capital 
cities were primarily for the education of the nobles and the 
other privileged classes. 

Special Features of the Old Chinese System. — The Old 
Chinese System, as it has come down to modern days, may 
be summarized as follows : — 

(i) The elementary schools were largely private and vol- 
untary and were quite generally distributed throughout the 
realm. The state exercised no control over them and the 
teachers were those who had been unsuccessful candidates for 
degrees. Consequently the schools were poor and not well 
attended. 

(2) A system of competitive examinations by the state was 
the controlHng factor in all grades of education, and seemed 
to be only an avenue to official positions, and not a need of 
society, as is the tharacteristic feature of modern school 
systems. 

(3) The subject matter taught in the elementary school 
to children up to the tenth year consisted of six books of 
characters, proverbs, axioms, and ethical precepts, to be 
memorized in the most formal and deadening way. In the 
next stage, from the tenth to the fifteenth years of the child's 
age, the subject matter was the nine sacred books, the Four 
Books and the Five Classics, which were literally memorized, 
" to get the words at the tongue's end and the characters at the 
pencil's point." This was a marvelous feat of memory but 
wholly void of the information and training needed in earning 
a living. The subject matter in the higher schools for prep- 



China 403 

aration of students for the competitive examination was a 
study of the thought of the classics, already memorized, and 
a rigid practice in writing essays on this material, looking 
always to the examinations and not to any human needs. 

(4) The Chinese method of teaching was purely a method 
of memory and imitation, of the kind that kills originality 
and creative power. In learning to write, the character, 
because of its peculiar form, had to be exactly imitated ; in 
reciting the classics, the wording was unalterable ; in essay 
writing the form in the sacred Hterature was the model. This 
method gave the set to the Chinese mind that necessarily 
belonged to the spirit of ancestry worship. All in all, the 
system, subject matter, and method did for China what was in- 
tended, and, in this respect, was an unquestioned success. 
It made society stable and in conformity with the past. But 
its weakness lay in making no attempt to reveal the individual 
unto himself and to make of himself a creative force for the 
improvement of his own condition and for the betterment of 
the world. 

TRANSITION TO MODERN EDUCATION 

(1842-1905) 

Open Ports Force Reorganization of Education. — The 
Day-Dawn of modern education in China came with the 
opening of Chinese ports to foreign trade and commerce in 
1842, which event brought to China the flood of Christian 
missionaries and their schools with modern knowledge and a 
new motive. Communication with the world of commerce 
and affairs created at once a demand for modern linguists, 
scientists, diplomats, and officers, for the training of which 
China was compelled to build a new type of school. Within 



404 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

fifty years she encouraged and developed colleges of language, 
agriculture, military science, mining, engineering, and me- 
chanics, under the instruction of professors from the leading 
foreign countries. The reaction of these modern educational 
innovations was a radical change in the examination system. 
In 1887, by an imperial edict, mathematics and science were 
placed on a par with the classics. This was the entering 
wedge that finally burst asunder the wall of Chinese conserva- 
tism and cleared the path of progress. As a part of the price 
for her years of selfish seclusion and conservative nationalism, 
she has had to play the role of an unwelcome guest in the school 
of the nations, as she has sought to send her students among 
them. Especially was this true in the closing quarter of the 
last century, but the reception in recent years has been more 
cordial, even encouraging. 

Reverses in War Turn China to Western Science. — The 
war with Japan in 1894-95 that resulted in such a humiliating 
defeat to China was an ill wind that blew back a blessing in 
its turn. China came to realize that without important 
reforms in her educational system she could never hope to 
regain her position as the leading nation in the east. Her 
literati, including the Emperor himself, turned to western 
learning, through every available source, and the schools 
where western science was taught were rapidly crowded with 
Chinese students, young and old. Hundreds of reform clubs 
sprung up all over China. The Emperor was reading every 
modern book he could lay hold of to quahfy himseh for the 
crisis, and hundreds of thousands of young scholars were 
keeping him a close second in their study for the emergencies 
that they saw confronting their nation. Then came the 
Emperor's decrees in 1898, inaugurating the sweeping educa- 



China 405 

tion reform, based on principles that have since been put into 
operation. The sudden reactionary movement, however, 
placed the Emperor in prison and repealed his edicts, thus 
returning the schools to the old regime. This reaction was to 
be expected from a leadership that was too positive, and too 
aggressive. The normal mind can grasp new things only so 
fast as it can make them a part of the individual's experiences. 
The Emperor and his advisers had moved too rapidly, not 
only for the masses, but for the intelhgent conservatives 
among the upper classes. So will it always be with reforms 
that are forced too quickly. 

The Empress Became an Educational Reformer. — But it 
seems that a mighty constructive purpose underlies the 
movements to control modern China. Out of the Boxer 
troubles and the consequent backset to education, the Empress 
Dowager, herself, emerged as a reformer and reenacted the 
educational edicts which she had previously annulled. Thereby 
she started anew the school reforms. 

Again was China startled by the superiority shown by 
Japan in her war with Russia — a superiority generally con- 
ceded to be due to western science in Japanese schools. Many 
Chinese students went to Japan and after several years of 
training, brought back to China a new spirit and power with 
which to push the reform movements. This work was ac- 
companied by edicts of the Empress, some to modernize the 
schools, and still others to send older students abroad to 
America, France, Germany, and England to study institutions 
and systems of education. 

Educational Commission Plan National School System. — 
These movements all culminated, in 1903, in the appointment 
of a special commission to draw up a plan for a national 



4o6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

public school system. The recommendations of this com- 
mittee were approved and their plan became the authorized 
program for educational changes throughout the empire. 
To make way for this new plan of reforms, the Emperor, in 
1905, issued the famous edict that aboUshed the ancient 
system of examinations and made China modern, in theoretical 
possibility. 

THE FIRST PERIOD OF MODERN EDUCATION 

(1905-1912) 

Old Chinese Education Abolished for Modern School 
System. — The new era in Chinese education began in 1905, 
with the edict, abolishing the ancient system of examinations, 
to make way for the modern educational scheme for a national 
public school system. This scheme had been drawn up by 
a special commission, appointed in 1903, and consisting of 
Sun Chia Nan, Chang Pai Hsi, and Chan Chi Tung. This 
one stroke of the " vermilion pencil " put an end to the edu- 
cational system that had ramified every nook and corner of 
an empire of over 325,000,000 people, since its inauguration 
in 631 A.D., by Emperor Tai Chung of the Tang Dynasty. 
That this act was not the outgrowth of a day, and that it 
was not accompanied with heroic struggles, sincere opposi- 
tions, and serious misgivings, cannot be questioned. It was 
the demise of one of the most deadening, and, at the same time, 
most revered education institutions the world has ever known. 
What of the new system, for a nation of such longevity and 
such unchanging ideals and customs ? 

The Throne Creates a Ministry of Education. — In Decem- 
ber, 1905, the throne created a Ministry of Education, as one 
of the eleven executive departments of the state, to take 



China 407 

charge of the new educational system and to develop its work: 
throughout the empire. The essential features of the Min- 
istry of Education, as organized by the act of the throne in 
1906, were as follows: (i) separate departments to deal with 
different phases of the work ; (2) provincial boards of educa- 
tion, appointed by the Minister of Education ; (3) government 
inspectors of schools in these provinces ; (4) a commissioner 
of education in each province ; (5) all board? and of]&cers di- 
rectly responsible to the ministry ; (6) a bureau for the prep- 
aration and pubhcation of textbooks ; and (7) a set of officers 
to take charge of the duties formerly belonging to the National 
University but now amalgamated with the Ministry of 
Education. 

This plan of administration placed all of the educational 
affairs of the Empire under the Ministry of Education, except 
special phases of education that seemed to belong more prop- 
erly to other central departments of the government, or to 
the individual boards, such as the schools in the capital, 
mihtary schools, certain commercial, and agricultural schools. 

Types of Schools Provided For. — The different types of 
schools provided for were as follows : Kindergarten ; lower 
primary ; higher primary ; middle schools ; provincial col- 
leges ; normal schools ; technical schools ; provincial univer- 
sities, and the Imperial University at Peking. The coordi- 
nation of these schools into one system is easily accom- 
plished. 

Emperor's Edicts Progressive. — During the period, Decem- 
ber, 1905, to January, 191 2, several edicts were issued from 
the throne, a number of sets of regulations were drafted by 
the ministry, and an important central educational conference 
was held ; all of these acts resulted in modifications of the 



4o8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

school system in the direction of a more popular form of gov- 
ernment. The changes pertained directly to a wider exten- 
sion of educational privileges, the curtailment of the over- 
loaded course of study, and the enrichment of the program 
through local adaptation. 

Ancient Aim of Education Overshadows Modern Purpose. — 
To an unbiased student of political and educational philos- 
ophy, the failure of this brave and heroic attempt at a new 
education system was apparent from the very aim of the 
movement, as stated in the Emperor's decrees. It was a clear- 
cut statement of the ancient Chinese philosophy of the state 
— the individual exists for the state. This aim is stated by 
Kuo as follows : " Loyalty to the Emperor, reverence for 
Confucius, devotion to public welfare, admiration for the 
martial spirit, and respect for industrial pursuits." The same 
decree declares that the " first virtue is needed for the develop- 
ment of patriotism, the second to uphold moraHty, the third 
to foster a cooperative spirit, the fourth to make possible a 
strong nation, capable of maintaining her own existence and 
freeing herself from foreign aggression, and the fifth to make 
possible the full realization of China's national resources for 
the benefit of the country as well as the fife of the people." 
This motive is worked out in the course of study by the re- 
tention there of a controlHng amount of the classical learning 
of the old hterature, apparently for the purpose of preserving 
ancient values and at the same time preventing too great an 
effect of the new ideas contained in the modern part of the 
program. But it was a marvelous beginning, for thousands 
of schools were estabHshed, a vigorous educational staff was 
organized, important surveys were made, and the people 
were generally stirred with enthusiasm for the system. This 



China 409 

wide educational awakening was thought by many to be one 
of the prominent causes in the overthrow of the monarchy 
and the establishment of the repubHc. 

Special Features of the Modern Curriculum. — Special 
features of the modern curriculum are worthy of notice, to 
show the relation of the Chinese school plan to those of other 
countries of the world. 

(i) The kindergarten, for children from two to six years 
of age, was provided for, to be built up largely through pri- 
vate and benevolent agencies with the state direction. The 
Chinese doubtless can and will develop the kindergarten 
along the same hnes as the Japanese have already done, 

(2) The lower primary schools, separate for the sexes, are 
open to boys at six years of age, and to girls at seven years of 
age. The course is five years and includes nine subjects, 
as follows : ethics, Chinese Uterature, Chinese classics, 
mathematics, science, Chinese history, geography, drawing, 
physical drill, with sewing for girls, in all 26 hours of work 
per week. The striking feature is that 22 hours of the total 
are given to ethics and Chinese literature and classics, making 
this subject the controlling part of the program. In 1909, 
the length of the course was reduced to four years and the 
number of hours per week to 24, because the work was found 
to be too heavy. 

(3) To aid in extending primary education to the masses, 
the government, in 19 10, took steps to connect with her the 
many primary schools of various kinds, by preparing for their 
adoption a special course of study. The scheme worked well, 
and as a result many such schools came under state super- 
vision. 

(4) The higher primary school follows the lower, with a 



4IO Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

four-year course of 36 hours per week. All of the subjects 
of the lower primary are continued, with the addition of 
music and Mandarin, the most widely spoken Chinese language. 
The same emphasis upon the Chinese classics exists here as 
in the lower primary. These schools may be established in 
the villages, towns, and cities, and, as in the case of the lower 
primary education, the private and mission schools may be 
approved and utilized by the state. The graduates of these 
schools, for promotion to the middle schools, are examined in 
the presence of the commissioner of education. 

(5) The middle school is established in the Fu, or county, 
at county expense, though provision is made for the organiza- 
tion of such schools by the smaller units, if prescribed stand- 
ards can be met. The revised course consists of 36 hours 
per week, through five years, and is divided into two parallel 
courses — one, industrial, the other, hterary, after the plan of 
the German schools. In the industrial division the major 
subjects are a foreign language, mathematics, and sciences; 
in the literary, the major subject is the Chinese classics and 
literature, with one of the leading foreign languages. 

(6) The students pay tuition. The teachers in these schools 
are required to be graduates of the Chinese normal colleges 
or of foreign normal schools of equivalent rank. The exami- 
nation, of the graduate of the middle school, for promotion 
to the provincial college, is conducted by the governor of the 
province and the president of the board of education. 

Great difhculty, as would be expected, has been experienced 
in housing and equipping these schools, and in finding a de- 
sirable teaching staff, one not wholly tied to the past. 

(7) A provincial college, one in the capital of each province, 
is provided for, to be maintained at the expense of the 



China 4 1 1 

province. The course is three years of 36 hours per week, 
and is divided into three parallel sections — (i) one prepares 
for admission to the college of Chinese classics, political law, 
literature, and commerce, in the Imperial University ; (2) one 
prepares for the colleges of science, agriculture, and engineer- 
ing ; (3) the third prepares for the college of medicine. The 
Chinese classics, Hterature, and ethics hold their own in these 
colleges, with 6 to 8 hours per week, for the full three years. 
The modern languages, German, French, and English, re- 
ceive from 16 to 18 hours, which is sufficient, with the 8 hours 
in the middle schools, to prepare students to read foreign 
books with ease. Quite a large range of electives is allowed 
to students who have decided to enter upon some definite 
line of specialization. Latin is the only one of the classics 
of the western world that appears in the curriculum, and it is 
offered only as an elective in the third year, to those students 
specializing in zoology, botany, agriculture, and veterinary 
science. 

The prototype of this Chinese provincial college is found 
in the French lycee, and the German gymnasium. The 
professors and instructors in these colleges are required to 
be graduates of the Imperial University or of a standard 
foreign university. 

(8) The normal schools are of three grades, lower, higher, 
and industrial. These schools are distributed throughout 
the different prefectures and in the provincial capitals. The 
industrial training schools are of three kinds, agricultural, 
commercial, and mechanical. These schools may exist as 
separate institutions or may be attached to the higher primary 
or to the middle school. 

The course in these latter schools varies from one to three 



412 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

years. In the lower normals the course varies from one to 
five years. The course in the higher normal is constituted 
as follows : (i) a one-year general course for all students, 
(2) four special three-year courses, and (3) a one-year graduate 
course. These courses, as described, have been variously 
modified from time to time to better adapt them to the im- 
mediate needs. In 1907, the normal schools for girls were 
established, with a four-year course, requiring at least two 
years of the higher primary school for admission. Tuition in 
both boys' and girls' normal schools is free. 

A national normal college was built in Peking, in 191 1, 
to become the model of all Chinese normals. 

(9) The Chinese educational system, according to the paper 
plan, culminates in the Imperial University at Peking, with 
eight distinct departments, and a graduate school at this 
same location. There may be also subordinate universities, 
of not more than three departments, in different provinces, 
under the direction of the Imperial University. Of this latter 
type there are now only two, the Tientsin and the Shansi. 
The different courses in the colleges of the university cover 
from three to five years, and in the graduate college, five 
years. Tuition is charged. Graduates of provincial colleges 
are admitted. 

This, in brief, is a description of the Chinese system which 
stretches out, in general, over twenty-five years of training, 
above the sixth year of a child's age. The course is all of six 
years longer than that required in America. It would take a 
student until he is somewhere in the thirties to finish the 
graduate college, under the most favorable conditions. But, 
as will be shown, this long term of years in the educational 
scheme has been shortened under the administration of the 



China 413 

republic. Other changes have also been made, some of 
which are progressive, others reactionary. 

The student of Chinese education must bear in mind that 
no reorganization of education, so radical as this one would 
be for China, could be realized, only by very slow degrees. 
At best the present scheme is not reaching more than one in 
sixty of the school population. 

THE PRESENT SCHOOL SYSTEM 
(1912-1916) 

The Chinese modern educational system, established by 
imperial decree, had been in existence only seven years, when 
the revolution brought forth the republic of China, in Feb- 
ruary, 191 2. The republic adopted the existing system, and, 
with several modifications, has continued it to this day. 
Naturally the revolution interfered with and temporarily 
retarded education, by turning into other channels the re- 
sources which otherwise would have been used for the schools. 
But educational activities were resumed immediately upon 
the organization of the new government, and, by the fall of 
191 2, through several decrees, issued by the Minister of Edu- 
cation in accord with the new education ordinance passed by 
the National Assembly, the transformations were made and 
put into operation. 

Changes in Education under the Republic. — The changes 
that have been made under the new republic are along six 
important lines: (i) the plan of administration has been 
simplified and somewhat decentralized ; (2) the Chinese 
classics have been almost entirely eliminated from the course 
of study ; (3) several new subjects of a social and industrial 



414 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

significance have been introduced ; (4) the overcrowded pro- 
gram has been relieved by the shortening of courses and elimi- 
nation of subjects ; (5) the lower schools have been made co- 
educational ; and (6) the aim of education has been modified. 

The new government is directing education under quite 
a different aim from that of the preceding monarchy, which 
new motive accounts for most of the changes that have been 
made. This new aim makes education a means of cultivating 
virtuous or moral character (tao teh), which is defined by the 
Minister of Education to be that which instills into the minds 
of the people the right knowledge of liberty, equality, and 
fraternity. This moral and ethical training is to be combined 
with military and industrial education for the purpose of 
securing adaptation to environment and of fitting the people 
for citizenship in a democracy. 

Briefly stated, the changes have left the system about as 
follows : — 

(i) The Ministry has as its head a Minister of Education 
who directs the work through one general council and three 
bureaus, (i) general education, (2) technical education, and 
(3) social education. The bureau of social education is a new 
departure and has for its function the wide advancement of 
education through all forms of extension methods, such as 
lecturing, the press, etc., a type of work now so common in 
many modern systems. 

(2) National inspection of education is now conducted 
through eight inspectorial divisions, instead of twelve as 
formerly, with one inspector for general and one for social 
education in each division. The duties of these officers, though 
they represent the central government, are not authoritative 
but simply advisory. 



China 415 

The directions pertaining to technical schools are of special 
interest because of the importance of this type of schools in 
the modern transformation of China. 

(3) Under a decree, issued October 22, 191 2, by the Minister 
of Education, the technical schools are classified as follows : 
law schools, medical schools, schools of pharmacy, agricul- 
tural schools, commercial schools, industrial schools, schools 
of music, mercantile schools, and schools of languages. The 
edict also provides for the founding of technical schools either 
by the central government, the locality, or a private person 
or association. All such schools must meet the standard set 
by the central government or be prohibited from the use of 
the name " technical school." The standard set for entrance 
to a technical school is graduation from a middle school, or 
passing an examination showing an equivalent standard. 

(4) Girls' trade schools, of the same general character as 
those for the boys, may be established wherever local condi- 
tions warrant. Tuition in all industrial schools may be free, 
if the locality can afford it. 

(5) Compulsory education is established in the four years 
of the lower primary school. The primary schools now have 
four years in the lower division and three years in the higher 
division. The duty of maintaining the primary schools is 
assigned directly to the cities, towns, and villages. These 
schools must be free, if possible. Several districts may con- 
sohdate for the estabhshment of either the lower or the higher 
primary school. Private primary schools and kindergartens 
are placed under the same management as the public schools. 
The classics are dropped out of the course of study and hand- 
work is made compulsory. Agriculture is added for boys 
and sewing for girls. 



41 6 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

(6) Continuation schools with a two-year course are 
provided for students from the lower and also from the 
higher primary schools, who cannot continue in the regular 
school. 

(7) The middle school course is changed from five to four 
years, and such schools are provided for girls on the same 
basis as for boys. The classics have been dropped out of 
these schools, also, and handwork has been added, with house- 
hold arts for girls and agriculture for boys. These schools 
are established by provinces or by private individuals or 
corporations, under the government supervision. The tui- 
tion is fixed by the school concerned, under a scale prepared 
by the Minister of Education. A reactionary policy combined 
the two departments of the middle school into one, preserving 
only features of the industrial department. There are now 
about 450 middle schools in China. 

(8) From the university the faculty of classics has been 
dropped, which action seems to show a determination on the 
part of the government to face the future rather than the past. 
A preparatory school with a four-year course, consisting of 
three groups of studies, has been attached to the university. 
The postgraduate course is left indefinite in length. 

(9) The lower normal schools, for both boys and girls, fol- 
low the primary schools and have a one-year preparatory 
course and four years in regular normal work. They also 
have a one-year course. The classics are also omitted from 
the normal schools and handwork added, with agriculture 
for boys and household arts for girls. The higher normal 
schools follow the middle school with a one-year preparatory 
course, three years of regular norftial work, and one or two 
years of research work. 



China 417 

(10) Textbooks are now prepared by private individuals, 
subject to the approval of the Minister of Education, and 
are adopted by provincial textbook commissions. No books 
are considered eligible for use that contain sentiments at 
variance with the republican form of government or the prin- 
ciples for which it stands. The correlation of mission schools 
with government schools is receiving careful attention. In 
this connection a study was made of Japan's method of dealing 
with the same problem. The demand for various forms of 
extension courses for the adult population who are inclined 
to study is also a pressing problem. 

(11) The subject of religious instruction in the schools has 
also caused much discussion, resulting in the defeat of the 
advocates of the teaching of Confucianism in the schools. 
The new educational ordinance regarding rites and ceremonies 
to be used in the schools forbids any worshiping or religious 
ceremony. This action is thought to be in harmony with the 
trend of the leading republican nations, in excluding religion 
from national education and priests from interfering therein. 

(12) The financial stress has prevented the ministry from 
prosecuting all of its plans. An economic policy has been 
inaugurated at every turn; institutions that have outlived 
their usefulness have been abolished, such as the Harlan 
Academy, that was once the center of learning under the 
monarchy. But the Peking University and many colleges 
have been reopened. The provincial and local officials, who 
are under less financial strain than the central government, 
are reviving the educational work very rapidly. Various 
provinces are sending scores of students abroad to study in 
the universities and to inspect foreign school systems, for the 
purpose of recalling them as experts in education. 



4i8 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

(13) The central bureau oj social education, aided by many 
local associations, is doing a great deal 'through quasi-educa- 
tional institutions, such as the press, art galleries, theaters, 
museums, libraries, etc., to popularize education. 

THE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 

Provisions for Higher Education. — The educational code 
of China, as modified by the republic, provides for the Peking 
Government University of seven departments, at Peking ; and 
for three new universities as they may be needed, one in 
Nanking, one in Wuchang, and one in Canton. The seven 
departments in the Imperial University are: (i) arts, (2) science, 
(3) law, (4) medicine, (5) applied science, (6) agriculture, 
(7) commerce. Under the republic the department of Chinese 
classics has been eliminated. 

There is also a graduate school to be located at Peking. 
All college courses are three years in length, except law and 
medicine, which are four years. The course in the graduate 
college is indefinite in length. A three-year preparatory school 
with three parallel courses has been attached to the university. 

Small University Enrollment. — For several reasons the 
enrollment in the university, so far, is not large. The prepar- 
atory schools have not yet graduated many students ; many 
advanced students have gone abroad for study ; many middle 
school graduates accept government positions rather than 
enter the university. The enrollment is about one thousand 
students, and the faculty consists of ninety professors and 
instructors. 

Faculties and Standards of Work. — The president of the 
Peking University is under the direction of the Ministry of 
Education and has therefore only general charge of the iini- 



China 419 

versity. Each college is directed by a dean. A unique 
feature is a director of studies, who superintends instruction 
in the college. All of the professors are to be graduates of the 
government university or of some foreign university. A 
large number of the professors are foreigners, but there is a 
tendency to replace foreign professors by Chinese, educated 
in Europe, x\merica, and Japan. The native professors are 
more popular, and China is also endeavoring to make her 
university distinctly national. 

The work in the various departments, except in so far as 
it is distinctly Chinese, is necessarily very elementary, judged 
by the standard in American universities. But the govern- 
ment is making liberal appropriations for the development 
of all the work of the university in the direction of the general 
world university standards. 

Pel Yang University. — The Pei Yang t/wmm/3; at Tientsin 
was organized just after the Chino- Japanese war. A pre- 
paratory department is attached to the university. The 
faculty consists of twelve foreign and seven Chinese professors. 
The institution, when founded, was financed from funds from 
the telegraph, navigation, and customs departments. During 
the Boxer troubles the university was completely destroyed, 
but has been rebuilt. Courses are offered in law, civil en- 
gineering, and mining. The standard of work in this in- 
stitution is thought to be as high as can be found anywhere 
in China. 

Shansi University. — The Shansi University had its origin 
in the Boxer trouble. At the close of that war the powers 
demanded indemnity for the property and hves of mission- 
aries destroyed. A compromise resulted in 50,000 taele*', 
annually, for ten years, being paid by China for the estab- 



420 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

lishment of a university at Shansi. Already a provincial 
college had been started there. Now, the two united to 
establish one great university with two departments — a 
western, in which western subjects are taught, and a Chinese 
department, to have charge of all the Chinese subjects. By 
agreement, after ten years, the institution was to return to 
the status of a government university. The work of the 
western department has been of high rank. Courses are 
offered in law, medicine, science, literature, and engineering. 
In 1908 there were 200 students in this department. 

THE TSING HUA COLLEGE 

Established with Boxer Indemnity Funds. — Special in- 
terest attaches to the Tsing Hua College, established in 191 1, 
which is the outcome of the Boxer indemnity fund, returned 
to the Chinese government by the United States, amounting 
to $10,785,286. In consequence of the action of Congress 
to this effect the government of China had decided to send 
yearly a considerable number of students to the United States 
for their education. The reports show that there were 250 
of these students in the United States in 1914, maintained 
from this fund. 

Purpose of the College. — As a means of preparing students 
to profit by the opportunity for advanced study in America, 
thus offered, the Tsing Hua College was organized and began 
its work in the spring of 191 2. The institution, though called 
a college, is only of high school rank. The college is under an 
administrative board, of which the president is Mr. Tsur 
Yetsung, an A.B. of Yale University, and M.A. of the 
University of Wisconsin. The college is organized into de- 
partments ; namely, the Chinese department and the western 



China 421 

department. The president of the board of administration 
is dean of both departments. 

The Faculty and Students. — The professors in the Chinese 
department are all natives of China. The professors in the 
western department are, with few exceptions, Americans, 
and all are graduates of leading institutions of this country. 
In 191 1, there were 18 American teachers, of whom 9 were 
women. There are also assistant instructors, who are grad- 
uates of either Peking University or of mission institutions of 
high grade in China. The college has two divisions, (i) a 
middle school with a four-year course, and (2) a high school 
with a four-year course. The students come from the different 
provinces. The number of graduates in 1914 was 34. These 
were eligible to be sent to the United States to study. The 
effect of this institution tends toward an amicable feeling 
between the Chinese and the Americans. 

THE CANTON CHRISTIAN COLLEGE 

In a Strategic Center. — The Canton Christian College is 
a non-denominational Christian college, located at Canton, 
the capital city of the Province of Kuangtung. This city 
has a population of more than a million, and the province, 
as a whole, has more than thirty millions. The people of this 
province are among the most progressive in all China, and are 
radical leaders in government, industries, and education. A 
more favorable location does not exist in China for a college 
through which to reach the Chinese people with western 
learning. The college is under the general management of 
trustees, incorporated in the state of New York. It is sup- 
ported by voluntary subscriptions, which, for the 15 years of 
its existence, have amounted to about $200,000. Of this 



422 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

amount the Chinese have contributed about $23,000 for the 
erection of dormitories. Special interest of note is being 
taken in the development of important education departments 
by such American institutions as Teachers College of Colum- 
bia, Vassar College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the 
University of Pittsburgh. 

Departments and Faculty. — The Canton College comprises 
a college of arts and sciences, middle schools for boys and 
girls, an elementary school, a medical college and hospitals, 
and chairs of agriculture and education. The total enrollment 
in all departments is between four and five hundred students, 
though only a small percentage of these are of full college rank. 

The faculty is composed of able men and women who have 
received their education in many of the best colleges and 
universities in the western countries. As an illustration, the 
newly appointed Teachers College Professor of Education is 
Mr. K. M. Wong, a Master of Arts from Columbia University. 
Mr. Chung, the dean of Canton College, also, was a graduate 
student in Teachers College. The Board of Trustees includes 
such an eminent educator as Dr. Samuel T. Button, who, 
since his retirement from the Columbia University faculty, 
has given much time and interest to the work of Canton Col- 
lege. 

Special Function. — The attitude of the Chinese govern- 
ment is most friendly toward the Canton College, which she 
recognizes as being true to the best interests of Chinese citizen- 
ship. Many of her graduates go abroad for further study, 
though most of the students, upon graduation from the middle 
school, go directly into prominent political, educational, and 
industrial positions, throughout all China. Thus, this in- 
stitution is destined to exert a wide influence in China, through 



China 423 

the work of these young leaders, who are being trained under 
Christian ideals and in accord with western scientific methods. 

AGRICULTURAL AND 0THP:R TECHNICAL COLLEGES 

Government's Wide Interest in Technical Education. — 
The government is making special efforts to establish all 
kinds of technical and trade schools of both lower and higher 
grades, for the purpose of encouraging the people to engage 
in, or to improve their work in agriculture, commerce, en- 
gineering, architecture, and other industries. In this work 
she has experienced two serious difficulties, lack of funds, 
and lack of properly qualified teachers. To overcome the 
difficulties, the government has sent students abroad to study, 
and she has solicited the wealthy to contribute for the es- 
tablishment of such funds. A large number of schools of 
more or less strength exist. The Polytechnic Institute of 
Shanghai offers courses in civil, mechanical, electrical, and 
marine engineering. An Engineering and Mining College 
is Iqcated at Tangshan in the Chili Province. In the Peking 
University strong departments in the technical professions 
of law, medicine, agriculture, commerce, and various applied 
sciences exist to train leaders in these lines. And one of the 
departments in the Ministry of Education is a bureau of techni- 
cal or professional education. The middle and lower technical 
schools, required to be built up in all the provinces, will 
extend this training to the masses in every part of the country, 
just as fast as the funds and the teachers can be secured to 
equip and direct the schools. 

Special Provision for Agricultural Education. — Agricul- 
tural education is receiving the greatest attention. In the 
primary, middle, and normal schools, agriculture is being 



424 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

offered to the boys (also the girls, though they are permitted 
to substitute sewing). Agricultural schools and colleges 
were among the first to be estabhshed, and for a number of 
years, nearly all the provinces and larger towns have had their 
agricultural schools. Teachers' agricultural training schools 
have been established. These schools cover twenty- three 
different courses of study. Provincial boards of agriculture 
have been quite generally organized to push the elementary 
training in agriculture for practical purposes. 

Finally at the head of all of these agricultural schools stands 
the Department of Agriculture in the university at Peking. 

MEDICAL EDUCATION 

China's Health Problem. — The health of a nation, as well 
as the health of an individual, conditions its efficiency. In 
this respect, as in so many others, China has much to do 
for her people. Her death rate from diseases that could be 
remedied or controlled is probably the highest of all the known 
countries of the world. The most destructive and widespread 
diseases of China are tuberculosis, hookworm, and syphilis. 
Other diseases that are also prevalent are leprosy, cholera, 
typhus, bubonic plague, and smallpox. The Chinese native 
medicine is not adequate, and the superstitious element of 
their religious faith has forbidden the dissection of the human 
body, thereby lessening their knowledge necessary for diag- 
nosis and preventing the surgical operations so often needed. 

Their method of diagnosis is mainly based on the pulse, 
and their remedies consist in puncturing the body with a 
needle or in the use of recipes handed down through the tradi- 
tions of families in which the practice of medicine has become 
hereditary. Modern medicine and methods are slowly find- 



China 425 

ing their way against the prejudices of long centuries of Chi- 
nese conservatism. 

Government's Plan for Medical Schools. — The central 
government and several provincial governments have made 
beginnings in both preventive and curative medical educa- 
tion. The new school plan under the repubhc provides for 
a medical department in the government university at 
Peking, with a four-year course in medicine and pharmacology. 
It also provides for special medical colleges and schools of 
pharmacy in provinces and cities. 

Government Medical Schools. — The government at 
present maintains two medical schools as follows : (i) 
The Peking Medical Special College has been in operation 
three years. Students are admitted from the middle schools 
and are given a four-year course. Provisions are made for 
as many as one hundred students. The faculty consists 
of ten professors, Chinese, Japanese, and foreigners. Hos- 
pital and laboratory faciUties are very meager. But little 
dissecting is done, though the government has legalized this 
work. (2) Peiyang MiHtary Medical College is located 
at Tientsin. This institution is about twelve years old and 
was founded for the preparation of doctors and surgeons for 
the army and navy. The enrollment is about three hundred, 
including sixty or more students in the department of phar- 
macy which is attached to the college. The equipment, and 
hospital facilities are inadequate. There are twenty-three 
professors. 

Provincial Medical Schools. — Two provincial govern- 
ments have medical schools of special merit, (i) The Pei- 
yang Medical School at Tientsin is thought by competent 
inspectors to be the best medical school of all the government 



426 Modem Education in Europe and the Orient 

institutions. It is supported by the government of the Prov- 
ince of Chili. It was organized before the establishment of 
the republic. A striking feature of the work of this college 
is that all the instruction is done in English. The standards 
for admission are graduation from the middle, or higher 
schools. The graduates of this institution are sought for 
services by the government, the army, railways, etc., because 
of the high grade of instruction given by the faculty. (2) 
The Kiangsu Medical Special College at Soochow is three 
years old and has a faculty of five Chinese professors and a 
student body of sixty or seventy students, of whom one half 
are in the one-year preparatory course, required of all stu- 
dents before entering upon the medical course proper. For 
its support the province appropriates an amount equal to 
about $23,000 annually. 

This college, as are all special medical colleges, is required 
to conform to the government regulations. 

Private Medical Colleges. — Private medical colleges, 
in considerable numbers, and of varying degrees of efficiency, 
exist in different cities, particularly in Canton. These 
schools, with but one or two exceptions, are said to be almost 
exclusively under Japanese influence, either with Japanese 
professors, or Chinese professors trained in Japan. As yet, 
the interest in modern medicine is not sufficient to sustain 
many medical schools of high rank. And, furthermore, the 
government is not financially able to subsidize the private 
schools sufficiently to develop many of them into efficient 
colleges. It seems that in the interest of the people, whose 
health is to be conserved, the government should select a 
few of the more promising of these schools, for government 
aid, and standardize the others out of existence. 



China 427 

Missionary Medical Colleges. — Missionary medical col- 
leges, of varying degrees of efficiency, exist quite generally 
throughout all the provinces of China, for the purpose of 
training Chinese young men, under Christian influence, for 
the practice of modern medicine. The heavy expense in- 
volved in building such schools, together with certain ethical 
and political considerations, has led the missionary organi- 
zations to unite under what is known as the Medical Mission- 
ary Association of China, for the purpose of Umiting, con- 
trolling, and developing the necessary missionary medical 
colleges. This association has designated a list of nine 
institutions to be fostered. These schools are located at 
Moukden, Peking, Tsinaufu, Chengtu, Hankow, Nanking, 
Hangchow, Foochow, and Canton. The entrance require- 
ment recommended is graduation from the middle school, 
looking to the requirement of two additional years of college 
preparation. For the education of women physicians, 
there are three special schools of some merit, located at 
Canton, Peking, and Soochow. In addition to these 
schools, women are admitted to a few of the men's private 
medical colleges. 

Non-Missionary Medical Schools. — Non-missionary medi- 
cal schools, under foreign control, exist in several important 
centers. These schools are quite generally representative 
of distinct nations. Only their names and locations will 
be mentioned here, although the work of several of these 
schools is worthy of special comment. The list is as follows : 
(i) the Japanese Medical School in Moukden, (2) the 
German Medical School in Tsingtau, (3) the German Medi- 
cal School at Shanghai, (4) the French Medical School in 
Canton, and (5) the British Medical School in Hongkong. 



428 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Chinese Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation. — 

The Chinese Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation of 
New York City has been recently organized to aid in the 
development of medical education in China. Their work 
at present will be confined largely to cooperation with mis- 
sionary institutions, which have already developed medical 
schools of some promise, in strategic centers for such work. 
A commission, sent to China in 1914 by this Foundation, 
to study and report on conditions of pubHc health and medi- 
cine in China, made a valuable report on this subject, with 
recommendations which the Foundation has formulated plans 
to carry out. They have organized the Chinese Medical 
Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, have made certain 
appropriations, and have sent their secretary there to per- 
fect arrangements with the missionary organizations and with 
the government for the inauguration of their work. The com- 
mission recommended certain most promising centers for 
the concentration of the work of the Foundation. These 
are : (i) the Union Medical College at Peking, (2) a new in- 
stitution to be known as the Shanghai Medical College, (3) 
the Canton Christian College, and (4) the Yale Mission at 
Changsha. 

In addition, the commission recommended the establish- 
ment, by the Foundation, of fellowships, scholarships, and 
other stipends for the aid of students and professors in pros- 
ecuting their studies in medicine at home and abroad. 

CHINA'S EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS 

The reconstruction of China in the light of the world's 
modern thought brings her face to face with problems of 
great weight which call for the exercise of the highest intelli- 



China 429 

gence, the broadest sympathy, the keenest insight into values, 
the purest patriotism, and, at the same time, the most politic 
manipulation on the part of her great leaders. A few of 
these problems stand out in glaring reUef, and press for im- 
mediate attention, on the part of the government and her 
educational and political advisers. 

I. Financing Education. — In the last analysis, a nation's 
ability to educate its children has to be estimated in dollars 
and cents. Changing suddenly as China has done, from a 
private to a state system of schools, with an attempt at com- 
pulsory education for the masses, presents to her a staggering 
financial problem. And China's financial situation is not 
flattering. In 191 2, her total foreign debt, including the 
Boxer Indemnity, was, in round numbers, 1,000,000,000 
taels, or approximately 1,500,000,000 dollars, on which she 
is paying from 4 per cent to 7 per cent interest. A recent 
estimate placed her expenditures at 576,000,000 taels and her 
revenue at 297,000,000 taels annually, which would mean 
absolute bankruptcy to the nation if continued long. 

This financial situation is one of the causes of the great 
restlessness in China to-day. The inability of the Manchu 
Dynasty to command credit was one of the immediate occa- 
sions of the change of China's government to a republic. 
The new government shouldered a debt greater than that of the 
United States, with an income of only about one fourth that 
of the United States. 

The educational work is only one of the many social de- 
mands made upon a country's finances. And, in China, 
this one demand has suddenly increased from merely enough 
to support the old competitive examination system and pro- 
vide education facilities for a few, to the immense amount 



430 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

necessary to build and equip schools and supply teachers 
for all of her millions of school population, a work that would 
require the services of a million and a half of teachers. 

So far, China has made only the smallest beginnings, but 
she has done well, in the light of facts. She is appropriating 
the old schools, temples, theaters, monasteries, and homes 
for school purposes. She is utiUzing private and mission 
schools and endowments and is welcoming the founding of 
schools and colleges by foreign institutions. To these aids, 
she is uniting the students' fees and local, provincial, and 
state school funds, as rapidly as they can be obtained by her 
present system of taxation, which, at best, is woefully inade- 
quate. But China is not using all of her sources of revenue. 
She has not learned how. This is the lesson she must learn 
before she can finance her schools. A system of taxing in- 
comes, private and corporate, would help her immensely. 
But her financial strength must find root farther down than 
simply an improved system of taxation and disbursement. 
She must make her land, mines, forests, streams, and 
manufactories produce more wealth. It is here that 
China needs the western knowledge for which she is 
already so hungry. At present, China needs the aid of 
foreign capital, with which to develop her industries, as 
a source of more revenue. 

II. The Need of Modern Teachers. — Hopeful indeed is the 
shifting of the emphasis in China from the training of govern- 
ment officials to the training of teachers. These she needs 
by the thousands — teachers with the new vision, trained 
in modern thought and methods. It will cost the nation 
milHons. Already she has made a beginning and, in 1910, 
there were 415 government normal and teachers' training 



China 431 

schools in China, with 28,572 students, exclusive of the mis- 
sionary and private schools. The policy of the government 
is to develop these training schools rapidly enough to keep 
pace with the increased facilities for public education with 
the growth of the school revenue. Thus far China has 
availed herself of every possible source of good, bad, and indif- 
ferent teachers. For her the making of a new nation involves 
the creation of a new teaching staff, to a greater extent than 
has ever before been attempted by one nation. She realizes 
this, and has undertaken the task. Her financial ability 
must come from the increased resources of a more highly 
and practically educated people, for now she does not have 
it. The different sources from which she draws her teachers 
are the missionary schools, the old regime literati, foreign 
teachers, and returned Chinese students. The qualifications 
of these teachers are very varied. The government is trying 
to regulate them. For instance, in 1908 the Minister of Educa- 
tion issued a set of rules requiring the employment of all for- 
eign teachers in the modern schools of China to be approved 
by the Minister of Education. In the same year, the require- 
ment was placed upon all returned Chinese students, that 
had been sent out by the Minister of Education, to teach at 
least five years, upon their return to China. Thus, it seems 
that China sees the need of training her own teachers. In 
the reorganization of the normal schools, under the republic, 
short courses of one and two years' work have been added to 
help meet the immediate demand for teachers. Special 
institutions for the training of country teachers have also been 
authorized. 

For the certification of teachers, the Minister of Educa- 
tion has formulated a system, which, thus far, has been only 



432 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

partially enforced. It provides for an examination committee, 
in each of the provinces, to issue certificates to properly 
qualified teachers, in both the elementary and the normal 
schools. These movements are all modern and are in har- 
mony with what other countries, such as the United States, 
are doing. But the goal is a long way off. On the basis of 
percentage of school population in the United States, which 
is about one sixth of the entire population, China would 
have over 55,000,000 school children. For these, on the 
basis of 35 pupils to the teacher, she would need 1,500,000 
teachers. She has fewer than 100,000. She needs 1,400,000 
more teachers. 

III. The Language Problem. — The problem of a common 
language is a most difficult one for China, with her 18 dif- 
ferent provinces and 7 dependencies containing an area of 
4,277,170 square miles and a population of 325,000,000. She 
has no common language, and the one that is spoken by the 
largest percentage of her people is not the written language. 
Even the printed language has no alphabet and is in no sense 
phonetic, but is made up of thousands of different characters, 
possibly as many as 260,000. Even the printing of the ordi- 
nary Chinese newspaper requires a font of movable type 
consisting of from six to eight thousand different characters. 
As a partial remedy to this condition, various methods have 
been proposed. In 1913, the Minister of Education called 
together an assembly of prominent scholars and educators 
from the different provinces and dependencies and the So- 
ciety of Chinese Resident Abroad for the purpose of devising 
ways and means of making uniform the spoken language. 
The assembly gave careful consideration to the following 
program : — 



China 433 

1. Out of the various forms of pronunciation, to fix upon 
one as the national pronunciation. 

2. For every sound in the national pronunciation, so fixed, 
to determine the most convenient and best. 

3. To select a root character for each sound and to classify 
all sounds according to the roots. 

So far, no satisfactory system has been devised. In the 
meantime Mandarin is the popular, standardized, spoken 
language and is being most widely used. In 1910, Mandarin 
was added to the curriculum of the higher primary school, 
with a view to unifying the language. There is, under the 
direction of the bureau of technical education, a society for 
the unification of the mother tongue. This language situa- 
tion, relative to the printing of textbooks and other Htera- 
ture, for popular education, is one that will require long years 
for its solution. The written language, now used throughout 
the country, is the " Wen Li." 

IV. New Content and New Methods in Education. — The 
educational reform in China is the very heart of her national 
progress, just as the old Chinese education was the cause 
of her centuries of stagnation. The outlook is hopeful, 
because Chinese educators are searching the world through 
for remedies for her backward conditions, political, industrial, 
social. She sees that an education, purely literary and 
philosophical, is not sufficient to preserve the moral integrity 
and national prominence of a people. And her theory, main- 
tained for centuries, that the only honorable position for a 
scholar was in government political service, is slowly giving 
way to the proper conception, that in the industries, the 
trades, commerce, schools, and homes, the service of the 
scholar is equally honorable and equally essential to the re- 

2F 



434 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

building of a nation, through a happy and efficient citizen- 
ship of both men and women. These lessons she has learned 
through a comparative study of her own conditions with 
those of her sister nations, that have so far outstripped her 
in modern progress. A government that recognizes the bi- 
polar power and right of the local citizen and of the central 
government is the one that is destined to win. This is what 
China is trying to do in the organization of her new educa- 
tional system, in which she provides (i) that the central 
government shall be responsible for higher education, (2) 
the local government for all forms of primary education, (3) 
the provincial government for secondary education. An 
intelligent recognition of this principle of local initiative, 
directed by a wise and sympathetic central authority, is 
what China is feeling her way towards. New ideals, new 
subject matter, new methods, and new motives are necessary 
to educate and train a people for life and service in a new 
republic, such as these reformations are destined to develop 
out of old China. These new factors China is beginning 
to provide. Without giving up the essentials of the old 
education she is fusing with them the essentials of the modern 
culture of the western world. She is lessening the amount 
of memory studies and substituting therefor scientific studies 
and manual and technical training. She has opened her 
doors to the Christian religion, and to others, and is seeking 
for them not only toleration but a harmonious relationship 
with her own system of ethics. This means a mighty present 
progress and the ultimate control of her national conscious- 
ness by the lofty principles of the Great Teacher whose assur- 
ance to the peoples of the world was, " I came not to destroy, 
but to fulfill." Through this opportunity, now open to 



China 435 

China, one fourth of all the people of the globe are to be 
brought under the influence of this world-wide mission, now 
already nearly two thousand years old. 

To meet these new conditions, China is gradually showing 
herself ready for a new method of attack, which must be the 
substitution of observation, experimentation, science, and 
trade laboratories, in the place of authority and books. This 
changed content and method, in the course of time, will 
greatly lessen the difference between the mind of the oriental 
and the mind of the western world. 

V. An Emancipated Womanhood. — One of the most en- 
couraging aspects of the present outlook in China is the pro- 
gressive and hberal attitude of the government in recent 
years towards the education of women. Her past education 
was moral and domestic — for a life of seclusion and drudgery. 
Now, the nation is throwing open to her the primary, second- 
ary, and normal schools and colleges, both public and private, 
and already the Chinese woman is beginning to think of partici- 
pating in public life as her sisters in other nations are doing. 
An influential factor in this work is the training that so many 
Chinese women are receiving in the mission schools in China 
and in the schools and colleges of foreign lands. An eman- 
cipated woman will bless the Chinese just as she has blessed 
other peoples. 

One of the most vital changes in China, in recent years, 
is found in the new education of Chinese girls and women. 
The work of the mission schools paved the way to govern- 
ment schools until now the same pride is being felt in edu- 
cational facihties for women as for men. This movement 
is a part of the widespread national awakening sustained 
by the fact that Chinese women have proven themselves 



436 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

capable of receiving and using an education. The government 
lias already provided for girls in the primary and middle 
schools and in the normals and will doubtless at an early 
day provide colleges for the women. Many Chinese women 
are studying abroad and making good records as students 
and scholars. The effect upon the home, of this new type of 
wife and mother, will be uplifting and transforming. It is 
the result of an already transformed attitude of the mind of 
the men who are now willing to pay for the education of their 
daughters. The Chinese woman is rapidly being prepared 
to take her place beside the men in the new order that is com- 
ing out of this present social transition. Naturally, one of 
the difficult problems in this social readjustment will be that 
of .the relation between men and women, for the women are 
being brought out of seclusion, and both sexes are claiming 
the right and privilege of making their own choice of wife 
or husband. A new moral consciousness is needed and this 
will require time and trying experiences for its development. 
The industrial world, into which the emancipated woman 
seeks to enter, sets up other demands in the form of indus- 
trial and technical education, for which China must provide. 
Already a beginning has been made in the primary and middle 
normal schools where sewing, handwork, and gardening 
are taught to the girls. The law also provides for trade schools 
for girls on the same plan as for the boys. The training of 
women for teachers in the schools is of even greater conse- 
quence just now than their training for the new industrial 
order, for it is through the primary schools of a country that 
the masses can be reached quickest and most effectively. 
A new Chinese home will be the crowning result of the edu- 
cated woman, a home in which the husband and wife meet on 



China 



437 



a common plane of intelligence and sympathy, giving the 
child a more wholesome atmosphere in which to live. 

VI. The Problem of a New Philosophy. — For more than 
tw^o thousand years the Chinese mind has been shaped and 
controlled by the philosophy of Confucius, which is a material- 
istic, superstitious theory of ethics based on the paternalistic 
conception of society and the state. The Chinese philosophers 
have interpreted the classics always in terms of the principles 
of the ancients and have done but little, if any, new thinking. 
The speculations of the Buddhist and the Taoist writers 
have had but little effect upon the Chinese mind. The inter- 
pretations of the teachings of Confucius by Chin Hsi, the 
great philosopher of the Sung Dynasty (a.d. 960-1290), 
have been quite universally accepted to the present time. 
Exception might be made of the teachings of individualism, 
and the investigation and experimentation of the Chinese 
pragmatist, Wang Yang Ming, in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries, whose influence upon the subsequent education of 
children was somewhat modern. But the Chinese mind has 
received a philosophical set from the formal study and accep- 
tation of the principles of the Confucian classics, a set more 
binding, but comparable to that of " Ciceronianism " in 
western education. This is the inevitable result of the teach- 
ing of one school of thought to the exclusion of all others. 
China needs to be shaken up mentally, with a new psychol- 
ogy, to free her mind of the unreasoning superstitions ; a new 
philosophy, to turn her mind away from sages to the throne 
of reason and into the literature of modern thought. She 
has already estabhshed a chair of western philosophy in the 
Imperial University to begin this work. In fact, the begin- 
nings may be found among the foreign scholars in her schools 



438 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

and missions. The hundreds of bright young men and 
women who study abroad and return to China are dispelHng 
the binding effects of Confucianism and harmonizing the best 
of his teachings with the superior doctrines of western philos- 
ophy. When China learns to think in terms of the best 
philosophy of the world, then she will lift the masses of her 
people — the 325,000,000 of human souls — to the higher 
planes of civilization. Her resources for this work lie buried 
in her soil awaiting the awakening touch of modern thought. 

VII. Moral and Religious Education. — The Chinese 
have had a system of moral and religious education, during 
the past centuries, which was based on the Confucian classics. 
This system is one of ethics, more than of religion. Under 
the recent republic the classics were eliminated from the 
school curriculum. This left the moral training of the child 
to the home and to the moral influence of the personality 
and conduct of the teacher, together with the moral effect 
of the child's general environment. This condition, so at 
variance with the traditions of the masses of the people, did 
not seem very promising. In fact, a deep conviction exists 
on the part of many of the more thoughtful Chinese, that 
the unsettled condition of Chinese society to-day is largely 
due to the lack of moral and religious life under the guidance 
of a positive religion, reinforced by a system of instruction 
in the schools. Without some such check they fear that the 
people will drift into extreme individualism and la'xity df 
morals. 

To meet this end, the progressive Confucianists, durii^ 
the past three years, conducted a vigorous movement to mak. 
Confucianism the state religion and to restore the classics 
to the schools. The president of the republic agrees with 



China 439 

these leaders that the Chinese people need a deeper religious 
life, and he himself is a Confucianist. But the formal peti- 
tion to the government to make Confucianism a state religion 
was denied by the president and council of state. The 
reasons for this attitude of the government pertained not 
only to education and religion, but to the political situation 
as well. For it is apparent that the establishment of Con- 
fucianism as the state religion would alienate the different 
sections of the country in which other influential sects abound, 
in particular, the Buddhists, Mohammedans, and Taoists. 
Likewise, such an action would doubtless lead to compli- 
cations with foreign countries with which China has treaty 
agreements to maintain freedom of religious worship. Thus 
far, the only constructive action on the subject has been a 
series of mandates issued by the president. In these he has 
urged the teaching of the classics in the schools, has assured 
the people that certain rites in honor of Confucius would be 
resumed under his ministration, as Pontifex Maximus, and 
he has tried to make it clear to the people that the teaching 
and practice of Confucianism, which is thought by many to 
be only a system of religion, would not interfere in the least 
with any of the systems of religion. With these mandates, 
for some time, the matter rested. Meanwhile, all religious 
organizations and native private schools were left free to 
prosecute their respective moral and religious education. 
Later, on the eve of the return of the government to a mon- 
archy, in December of 191 5, the president encouraged the 
x-eturn to the teaching of the Confucian classics. 

There is, everywhere, in the leading cities of the provinces, 
a remarkable openness of mind on the part of the Chinese 
students and official classes toward Christian teaching. A 



440 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

deep moral and national consciousness is evident among them. 
This great thinking student body needs guidance as never 
before in Chinese life. What system of thought is to guide 
them? Doubtless it will be a Christianized-Confucianism, 
brought within the understanding of the Chinese conscious- 
ness and not antagonistic to the best and purest of their 
ancient faith. 

Evidences of the tolerant spirit of the government toward 
the Christian religion are found in many directions. The 
president of the Government Normal School in Peking, which 
is under the Ministry of Education, is an officer in one of the 
Methodist churches. Sunday is now observed as a rest 
day. The Young Men's Christian Association, organized 
in China a few years ago, now has a staff of nearly a hundred 
foreign and about two hundred native, paid workers, doing 
an effective work among the young men in college centers and 
leading cities. More than two millions of Protestant and 
CathoHc Christians are numbered among the Chinese. Twice, 
recently. President Yuan Shi Kai has called upon the Chris- 
tian churches in China for special prayers, for China, and for 
those suffering in Europe, that peace might come to the earth. 
A wise step in moral and religious education has been taken 
recently by the various Protestant Christian organizations, 
doing work in China, through an interdenominational or- 
ganization of their missions and schools. This example 
of a united Christian faith and work will eventually have 
its influence upon the Chinese in their efforts to find a solu- 
tion to their national, moral, and religious problems. What 
could point the way more clearly than the words of the presi- 
dent of the repubhc to the president of the Peking University, 
— "I am not a Christian, I am a Confucianist, but only 



China 441 

Christian ethics can save China, our morahty is not sufficient 
for the crisis." 

THE GOVERNMENT'S PROGR.\M 

The immediate aims and plans of the new repubhc were 
clearly stated in the words of the president. 

" First, I will endeavor to straighten the foundations of 
the republic, and establish an efifective government, so that 
the central and provincial governments will act in unison and 
thus be able to develop China into a well-organized state. 

''Secondly, I propose to encourage public education, so 
that the people may learn to know their responsibilities as 
citizens, respect the laws, value their liberty, and exercise 
their rights. 

"Thirdly, I propose to develop our internal trade and in- 
dustries, so that every person may have a proper means of 
livelihood. An old adage tells us that a man must have plenty 
of food and clothing before he can cherish the sense of honor 
and shame. To improve the economic life of the people is 
an important phase of my policy. Furthermore, China is 
rich in natural resources, the development of which will 
enrich the nation and its citizens." 

This program is in accord with the fundamental principle 
of evolution, namely, that permanent improvement is the 
result of steady progress, and not of hasty changes. 

What changes in the educational system will be made, as 
a result of the return to a monarchy, cannot be safely 
predicted. It is not probable, however, that any vital 
reaction will be made inasmuch as China is awake to 
her educational needs, if she would win for herself a 
place among the world powers. 



442 Modern Education in Europe and the Orient 

Topics for Further Study 

1. Discuss the Chinese Policy of "Non-Intercourse," in its influence 
upon education. 

2. Show how a nation's ethical and religious ideals condition the 
development of her civilization. 

3. Describe Chinese education under the domination of Confucian- 
ism. 

4. Compare China and Japan as to racial characteristics which 
account for the superiority of the Japanese educational system. 

5. Compare the old Chinese system of examinations with the system 
of examinations to which you have been accustomed in your educational 
system. 

6. Discuss the influence of world commerce upon education, using 
China's experience as one of several illustrations. 

7. Trace the influence upon the present Chinese school system of 
each of the countries, Japan, Germany, France, England, and America. 

8. Write a thesis upon the necessity for the union of missionary 
organizations operating in China, from the standpoint of the principles 
of educational psychology. 

9. What would be the effect upon American civiHzation of the ad- 
mission of the Chinese and Japanese to the full right of American citi- 
zenship ? 

10. What special merits of the American school system would you 
recommend to Chinese officials for adoption as an improvement to 
their present school plan? 

Special Bibliography 

Brown. New Forces in Old China, New York, 1904. 

Education in China, Special Phases, United States Commissioner of 

Education, Reports, 1905 to 191 5. 
Headland, Isaac T. Education in China, and Confucius, Monroe's 

Cyclopedia of Education, The MacmiUans, New York. 
Ho, Yen Sun. Chinese Education from the Western Viewpoint, 1913, 

Rand McNally and Company, Chicago. 
Kemp, E. G. The Face of China, London, 1909. 



China 443 

EliNG, Harry Edwin. The Educational System of China as Recently 
Reconstructed, 191 1, Government Printing Office, Washington, 
D.C., Bulletin, No. 15, United States Bureau of Education. 

Kuo, Ping Wen. The Chinese System of Public Education, 191 5, 
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. 

Lewis, R. E. Educational Conquest of the Far East, New York, 1909. 

Monroe, Paul. Education as Recapitulation : China as a Type, 
1905, Textbook in the History of Education, The Macmillan Com- 
pany, New York. 

Reinsch, Paul S. The New Education in China, Atlantic Monthly, 

Vol. cm, p. 575. 



INDEX 



Administration of Education : 

China, 387, 405 fi., 413. 

England, 10 £f. 

France, 96 ff. 

Germany, 132. 

Holland, 195. 

Japan, 344. 

Scotland, 23, 61. 

Switzerland, 171. 
Agricultural education, 97, 109 fif., 183. 
Agriculture : 

Danish Schools of, 243. 

French Schools of, no ff. 

Middle Schools, China, 416. 

Prominence of, Japan, 338. 

Schools for men, Switzerland, 183. 

Schools of, in Holland, 217. 
American education : 

Compared with Danish school year, 245. 

Compared with Dutch, 208, 216. 

German influence, 165 ff. 

Lutheran influence, 291. 
Appropriation for schools : 

Denmark, 241, 257. 

England, 8, 9, 17. 

France, 108, 113. 

Germany, 144, 147. 

Japan, 365. 

Norway, 271, 274. 

Scotland, school statistics, 77. 

Sweden, 329. 

Switzerland, 175. 

Binet-Simon tests, 27, 28. 
Boards of Education : 

Denmark, 231. 

England, 4, 10 ff., 34ff. 

Germany, 134. 

Holland, 195. 

Norway, 267. 

Scotland, 62, 66, 96. 

Switzerland, 173. 



Caste system : 

Culture, 156. 

Extent, Japan, 386. 

Purpose and effect, Japan, 344. 
CentraHzation vs. specialization, 98. 
Child welfare : 

Denmark, 234 ff. 

England, 7. 

Germany, 134. 

Scotland, 78. 
China : 

History of, 391. 

Industries of, 394. 

Recent republic, 395. 
Chinese education : 

Agricultural and other technical colleges, 
423- 

Educational problems, 428. 

First period of modern, 406. 

Government program, 441. 

Medical, 424. 

Old form, 397. 

Present school system, 413. 

Transition to modern, 403. 

Universities and colleges, 418. 
Christian education : 

Attitude toward, Japan, 346. 

Denmark, 230. 

Introduction in Norway, 261. 

Scotland, 67. 

Switzerland, 186. 
Church in relation to education : 

France, 121 ff. 

Germany, 155. 

Holland, 221—222. 

Scotland, 86 ff. 

Sweden, 330. 

Switzerland, 190 ff. 
Coeducation : 

Danish schools, 249 ff. 

Elementary schools, Sweden, 314. 

France, 99. 



445 



446 



Index 



Coeducation — continued : 

French universities, ii6. 

Germany, 142. 

Middle schools, Norway, 272. 

Problem of, Norway, 285. 

Secondary schools, Sweden, 314. 

State policy, Norway, 274. 
Colleges : 

For working men, Norway, 282. 
Colonial education : 

Dutch, 200. 

French, 123 ff. 
Commerce and industry : 

Schools of. III, 181, 213. 
Compulsory school attendance : 

China, 415. 

Denmark, 230, 245. 

England, 16. 

France, 99. 

Germany, 134. 

Holland, 203. 

Law, enforcement, Japan, 354. 

Of defectives, Denmark, 255. 

Private schools, Norway, 293. 

Scotland, 62. 

Sweden, 308. 

Switzerland, 177. 
Confucian education : 

Effect of, in Chinese education, 401 . 

Philosophy of, 400. 

Purpose of, 401 . 
Continuation classes, 73, 74, 232. 
Continuation schools, 153, 177, 181, 206, 
233- 

China, 416. 

Sweden, 301, 309. 
County schools: 

Norway, 285. 
Curriculum : 

Denmark, 232, 237, 238, 241. 

England, 22. 

France, 99, 104, 118. 

Germany, 139, 141, 142. 

Holland, 204, 206, 208, 210. 

Japan, 346, 357, 360, 361, 364, 366, 
368, 371. 

Modern, Chinese school, 409. 

Music, 186, 242, 246, 361. 

Old Chinese system, 404. 

People's high school, Sweden, 330. 



Curriculum — continued : 
Scotland, 72. 
Sweden, 308. 
Switzerland, 178, 179, 183, 185, 189. 

Danish education : 

Administration and organization of, 
230 flf. 

Care of defectives, 255. 

Preparation of teachers, 247 ff. 

Relation to the church, 251 £f. 

Schools, 236 ff., 255. 

Subject matter, 232, 237-238, 241 ff. 
Danish schools in America, 244. 
Defectives, 27, 29, 137, 232, 254, 320. 
Denmark : 

Church, 251 ff. 

Education, 230 fif. 

Government, 227. 

Paternalistic care, 254. 
Domestic economy : 

Household economics, 243, 326. 
Dutch education : 

Administration and organization, 195 ff. 

Preparation of teachers, 197, 203, 222 ff. 

Schools, 197, 203 ff. 

Subject matter, 204, 206, 208, 210, 213. 

Education : 

Ancient system of, Japan, 341. 

Confucianism, contents in Chinese educa- 
tion, 401. 

Literary form of, Japan, 342. 

Of girls, Japan, 347. 

Popular, Sweden, 307. 

Special features, Japan, 360. 
Elementary education : 

Chinese method, 403. 

Denmark, 232 ff. 

England, 14, 15, 18 ff. 

France, 98 ff. 

Germany, 135 ff. 

Holland, 195, 203 ff. 

Old Chinese system, 402. 

Proposed reorganization of, Sweden, 309. 

Scotland, 71 ff. 

Sweden, 300, 302. 

Switzerland, 176 ff. 

Workshops for children in, Sweden, 321. 
Engineering, schools of, 154. 



Index 



447 



England : 

Education of, s ff. 

Government of, 1-5. 
English education : 

Administration and organization, 6 ff. 

Preparation of teachers, 12 and 39 flf. 

Schools, 9, 14 ff. 

Subject matter, 25, 48 5. 
Enrollment in schools, 102, 108, 175, 176, 
180, 234. 

Denmark, 235, 239. 

England, 24, 28, 36. 

France, 102, 108. 

Germany, 135, 136. 

Holland, 209, 213. 

Japan, elementary schools, 358. 

Japan, girls' high schools, 369. 

Japan, higher schools, 364. 

Japan, medical students, 388. 

Japan, normal school, 375. 

Norway, middle schools, 273. 

Norway, rural and city schools, 271. 

Norway, secondary schools, 275. 

Scotland, 73, 77. 

Sweden, elementary education, 309. 

Sweden, people's high school, 329. 

Switzerland, 175, 180. 
Examinations : 

Competitive in old Chinese, 402. 

Denmark, 239. 

England, 23, 45. 

France, 117. 

Germany, 143. 

Holland, 200, 208, 224. 

Old Chinese system of, 397, 399. 

Realexamen, Sweden, 314. 

Realskolexamen, Sweden, 313. 



Factory children : 

Education of, 7. 
Fee schools : 

France, 103 fi. 

Germany, 138, 147. 

Holland, 198. 

Japan, 356, 363, 365, 367. 

Student fees, Norway, 284. 
Feudalism : 

Japanese, 345. 

Japan, destroyed in, 349. 



Folk high school, 240, 241. 

Norway, 281. 

Sweden, Folkhogskolor, 305. 
France : 

Education, 96 ff. 

Government, 92-95. 
French education : 

Administration and organization, 96 ff. 

Colonial, 123 ff. 

Preparation of teachers, 106-107. 

Schools, 98 ff. 

Subject matter, 97-99. 
Froebel, 136. 

German education : 

Administration and organization, 132. 

Preparation of teachers, 142, 144 ff., 163. 

Schools, 13s ff. 

Subject matter, 141, 142, 147. 
Germany : 

Education, 132 ff., 162 ff. 

Government, 129. 
Government aid : 

England, 8, 9, 24. 

France, 108, 113, 119. 

Germany, 148. 

Holland, 197, 214. 

Switzerland, 171, 172, 182. 
Gymnasium : 

Denmark, 235, 238. 

Germany, 140 ff. 

Holland, 210, 211. 

Modernized, Sweden, 311. 

Norway, 273. 

Religious education, Norway, 287. 

Sweden, 311. 
Gymnastics, Swedish, 323. 

Higher education : 

Agricultural and technical colleges, 
China, 423. 

Denmark, 239 ff. 

England, technical schools and univer- 
sities, 48 and 51. 

France, 112. 

Germany, universities, 155. 

Higher education, Sweden, 316. 

Higher institutions, Sweden, 206. 

Higher schools, Japan, 364. 

Higher technical, Norway, 284. 



448 



Index 



Higher education — contirmed : 

Holland, 196, 209 ff. 

Imperial universities, Japan, 365. 

Polytechnic and professional schools, 
Denmark, 256. 

Scotland, technical universities, 82, 83. 

Switzerland, universities and poly- 
technic institutes, 187. 

Technical, Japan, 376. 

Technical, Norway, 283. 

Technical, Sweden, 319. 

Universities, China, 418. 

University of Copenhagen, 356. 

University of Norway, 275. 
Holland : 

Colonial government, 199 £E. 

Education, 195, 203 £f. 

Government, 193 ff. 

Ideals : 

Of the Danish people, 241. 

Swiss education, 173 ff. 

Technical education, 109. 
Industrial and trade education : 

Germany, 152-153- 

Holland, 214 ff. 

Industrial handwork, China, 416. 

Industries, Norway, 279. 

Schools for, and commerce, in, 216. 

Sweden, 310. 

Switzerland, 188 ff. 
Industrial universities, 82-83. 

Rural, 218. 
Infant schools, 20, 176, 203. 
Inspection and supervision ; 

China, 414. 

Denmark, 254. 

Elementary schools, Sweden, 303. 

England, 8 ff., 13. 

France, 95 fi., loi. 

Germany, 133, 134. 

Holland, 195, 196, 204, 205, 207. 

Japan, 354. 

Scotland, 70, 78. 

Special sloyd inspectors, Sweden, 
325- 

Sweden, 303. 

Switzerland, 172-173. 

University of Copenhagen, 257. 

University of Sweden, 306. 



Insurance, teachers : 
England, 47. 

Japan : 

Educational policy of, 350. 

Geography of, 338. 

Government of, 340. 

History of, 236. 

Industries of, 338. 
Japanese education : 

Administration, 341, 353. 

Elementary, 357. 

Girls' high schools, 368. 

Higher schools, 364. 

Imperial universities, 365. 

Kindergarten in, 355. 

Medical, 388. 

Middle school, 361. 

Modern, 350. 

Moral instruction in, 356, 381. 

Religious, 384. 

Special features, 379. 

Students in China, 343. 

Technical, 376. 

Training of teachers, 370 ff. 

Transition of modern, 348. 

Under Buddhist domination, 343. 

Under early feudal regime, 341. 

Under military control, 345. 

Kindergarten : 
England, 20. 
France, 99. 
Germany, 135, 136. 
Holland, 203. 
Japan, 355. 
Switzerland, 176. 

Legislation, educational : 
Denmark, 230 ff. 
England, 8, 10, 11, 14, 26, 27. 
France, 98, 109, 116. 
Germany, 134. 
Scotland, 61, 63, 68, 70. 

Moral training : 
China, 438. 
Japan, 342. 

Norwegian education, 288. 
University, Japan, 381. 



Index 



449 



Motherhood : 

Education for, Japan, 369. 

Naas Sloyd : 

Training College, Sweden, 325. 
Netherlands-India, igg ff. 
Normal Practice Schools, 118. 

Japan, 371- 

Norway, 276, 278. 

Sweden, 302, 306. 
Normal schools : 

Denmark, 247 ff. 

France, in, 116 fif. 

Holland, 197, 223. 
Norway : 

Government, 262. 

History of, 260. 

People and language, 264. 

Problems, 263. 

Social problems, 264. 
Norwegian education : 

Administration, 267. 

Agricultural education, 279. 

Coeducation, 285. 

Continuation schools, 284. 

Gymnasium, 273. 

Middle schools, 271. 

Moral education, 269. 

Primary schools, 269. 

Private institutions, 292. 

Religious education, 287. 

Rural education (for adults), 281. 

Technical education, 283. 

Training of teachers, 266 ff. 

University, 275, 291. 
Norwegian language : 

Linguistic struggle, 266. 

Relation to Dano-Norwegian, 265. 

Pensions for teachers : 

Denmark, 249. 

Elementary school teachers, Japan, 374. 

England, 45 ff. 

France, 119. 

Holland, 224. 

Scotland, 81-82. 

Switzerland, 185. 
Physical training in schools, 12. 

Danish schools, 246-247. 

Swedish system of, 25. 

2Q 



Pictogram of elementary schools in Eng- 
land, 19. 
Primary education : 

China, 407, 409. 

Denmark, 232 ff. 

France, 98 ff. 

Holland, 204 ff. 

Japan, 357. 

Norway, 269. 

Scotland, 70-71. 

Sweden, 300. 

Switzerland, 176. 

Teachers of, Norway, 277. 
Private schools : 

Elementary, Japan, 359. 

Norwegian institutions, 292. 

Sweden, 301. 
Problems and education : 

England, 23, 25. 

France, 99, 102 ff., 120. 

Germany, 137-138, 162 ff. 

Religious education : 

China, 417, 438. 

Church in Norway, 289. 

Denmark, 351 ff. 

Ethics substituted for, Japan, 385. 

France, 121. 

Germany, 160. 

Holland, 190 ff. 

Limitations of, Japan, 384. 

Norway, Gymnasium, 287. 

Prescribed, Sweden, 331. 

Virtues of, Japan, 385. 
Reorganization of secondary education: 

For girls, 108, 109. 

Scotland, 74, 75. 

Scottish universities, 84, 85. 

Sweden, 309. 
Rural education : 

Denmark, 240-243. 

England, 56. 

Holland, 218. 

Provision for rural districts, Norway, 270. 

School gardens : 

Sweden, 322. 
School hygiene : 

Health of elementary school children, 
Japan, 360. 



45° 



Index 



School hygiene — continued : 

Teaching of, Sweden, 310. 

Training of secondary teachers in, Nor- 
way, 278. 
Scotland : 

Church in, 88. 

Education, 61. 

Government, 61. 
Scottish education : 

Administration and organization, 61 ff., 
7ofi. 

Old system of schools, 63-69. 

Preparation of teachers, 66, 79, 80. 

Present system of schools, 70. 

Subject matter, 71 ff. 
Secondary education : 

Continuation classes, secondary rank, 
Norway, 284. 

Course of, Norway, 272. 

Denmark, 235 ff. 

England, 32 ff. 

Folk high school, Norway, 281. 

France, 103 ff. 

Germany, 140. 

Holland, 195, 209. 

Mellenskoler, Sweden, 313. 

Norwegian control of secondary schools, 
268. 

Realgymnasium, Sweden, 313. 

Realskole, Sweden, 313. 

Scotland, 63, 74 ff. 

Secondary schools, Sweden, 301, 303. 

Switzerland, 178 ff. 

Type of boys, Sweden, 313. 
Sloyd : 

Theory underlying, Sweden, 324. 
Social problems : 

Norway, 264. 
Suffrage : 

Emancipated womanhood, China, 435. 

Equal, Norway, 263. 

Male, in China, 396. 

Universal, male and female, Sweden, 299. 
Sweden : 

Geography of, 296. 

Government, 299. 

Historic sketch of, 298. 

Industries of, 297. 
Swedish education : 

Abnormals, education of, 307. 



Swedish education — continued: 

Administration of, 302. 

Higher education, 316. 

Neglected children, care of, 327. 

Organization of, 300. 

People's high schools, 328. 

Religious education in, 330. 

Secondary schools, genesis of, 310. 

.Special tj'pe of school work, 320. 

Technical education, 319. 
Swiss education : 

Administration and organization, 
171 ff. 

Preparation of teachers, 181, 183, 185, 
189. 

Schools, 176 ff. 

Subject matter, 178, 179, 183, 185. 
Switzerland : 

Church, 190. 

Education, 171 ff. 

Government, 167-171. 

Teachers : 

Classification and preparation of, 

Denmark, 247 ff. 

England, 12, 39 ff. 

For abnormals, Sweden, 307. 

For domestic economy, Sweden, 314. 

France, 106-107. 

Germany, 145 ff. 

Holland, 197, 203. 

Kindergarten, Japan, 356. 

Rural teachers, homes, Norway, 
270. 

Scotland, 66, 79, 80. 

Switzerland, 181. 

Training of, China, 411, 430. 

Training of, Japan, 370. 

Training of, Norway, 276, 278. 

Training schools, Sweden, 301, 305. 
Technical education : 
China, 423. 
Denmark, 239, 256. 
Early, Japan, 376. 
England, 48 ff. 
France, 97-98, 109. 
Holland, 213 ff. 
Interest in, Sweden, 319. 
Middle schools, Japan, 362. 
Modern education, Japan, 352. 



Index 



451 



Technical education — continued : 
Norway, 2S3. 

Present system, Japan, 376. 
Scotland, 82-83. 
Switzerland, 181. 
Teachers for, Japan, 378. 
Technical schools : 

Agricultural and other, China, 423. 
China, 415. 
Higher, Norway, 2S4. 
State, Sweden, 316. 

Technical high school, Sweden, 307, 319. 
Textbooks : 

Preparation of, China, 417. 
Regulations, Japan, 387. 
Trade education, 109, 182. 
Schools, Dutch, 214. 
Schools, German, 49. 
Schools, Swiss, 182. 
Training schools : 
China, 411. 

Course of study, Japan, 371. 
For secondary teachers, Japan, 374- 
For teachers, Japan, 371. 
For teachers, Sweden, 305. 
Lower and higher, in China, 416. 
Special course, domestic economy, Swe 
den, 326. 

Universities : 
Changes in, China, 416. 



Universities — continued : 
China, 41S. 
Copenhagen, 256 S. 
Degrees, Norwegian, 275. 
Degrees, Swedish universities, 318. 
England, 51 li. 
France, 97, 113 ff. 
Germany, 15s ff. 
Gothenburg, Sweden, 306. 
Holland, 209, 211-213. 
Institutions of, rank, Sweden, 316. 
Norwegian control of, 269. 
Royal Friedrich university, Christi- 

ania, 275. 
Scotland, 64, 7S, 83-84. 
Stockholm, Sweden, 306. 
Switzerland, 1S7-188. 
Univer.-ity of Upsala, 317. 

Vacation col mies : 
Sweden, 326. 

War and education : 

France, 124. 

Germany, 164 ff. 
Women, education of : 

Denmark, 237. 

France, 104-106, 109. 

Germany, 142, 148, 159. 

Holland, 21^. 

Scottish universities, 85. 



Printed in the United States of America. 



'T^HE following pages contain advertisements of a 
few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects. 



MODERN PEDAGOGY 



Aspinwall .... Outlines of the History of Educa- 
tion $ .80 

Bagley Classsroom Management. Its 

Principles and Technique . . 1.25 
Craftsmanship in Teaching . . i.io 

Educational Values i.io 

Educative Process, The . . . . 1.25 

School Discipline 1.25 

Bigelow Sex Education 1.22 

Bricker Teaching of Agriculture in the 

High School 1. 00 

Brown American High School .... 1.40 

The Training of Teachers for Sec- 
ondary Schools in Germany and 

the United States 1.25 

Chubb The Teaching of English in Ele- 
mentary and Secondary Schools i.oo 
Cubberley .... State and County Educational 

Reorganization 1.25 

Cubberley and Elliott State and County School Adminis- 
tration 2.50 

Curtis Education Through Play (Educa- 
tional Edition) 1.25 

Practical Conduct of Play (Educa- 
tional Edition) 1.50 

The Play Movement and Its Sig- 
nificance Preparing 

De Ganno .... Interest and Education .... i.oo 
Principles of Secondary Education 

3 Vols. I, $1.25; II, $1.00; III, I.oo 
Dewey Democracy and Education, A Phi- 
losophy of Education .... 1.40 
Dobbs Illustrative Handwork .... i.io 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK ATLANTA 

CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO DALLAS 



MODERN PEDAGOGY— Continued 



Dresslar .... School Hygiene $1.25 

Button Social Phases of Education in the 

School and the Home . . . . 1.25 
Eaton and Stevens . Commercial Work and Training 

for Girls 1.50 

Farrington .... Commercial Education in Germany i.io 

Foght The American Rural School . . . 1.25 

Rural Denmark and its Schools . . 1.40 

The Rural Teacher and His Work . i .40 

Ganong The Teaching Botanist .... 1.25 

Graves A History of Education. Vol. I. 

Before the Middle Ages . . . i.io 
Vol. II. A History of Education 

During the Middle Ages . . . i.io 

Vol. III. Modern Times . . . . i.io 

Great Educators of Three Centuries i.io 
Peter Ramus and the Educational 

Reformation of the i6th Century 1.25 

A Students' History of Education . 1.25 

Halleck Education of the Central Nervous 

System i.oo 

Hall-Quest . . . Supervised Study 1.25 

Hanus Educational Aims and Values . . i.oo 

Modern School, A 1.25 

Hart Educational Resources of Village 

and Rural Communities ... i.oo 
Heatwole .... A History of Education in Virginia . 1.25 
Henderson . . . Principles of Education .... 1.75 
Herrick Meaning and Practice of Commer- 
cial Education 1.25 

Holtz , . . . . Principles and Methods of Teach- 
ing Geography i.io 





THE 


MACMILLAN 


COMPANY 




BOSTON 




NEW YORK 




ATLANTA 


CHICAGO 




SAN FRANCISCO 


DALLAS 



MODERN PEDAGOGY— Continued 

Home Philosophy of Education . . . $1.50 

Psychological Principles of Educa- 
tion 1.75 

Idealism in Education . . . . 1.25 
Story-Telling; Questioning and 

Studying i.io 

Howerth The Art of Education .... i.oo 

Huey Psychologyand Pedagogy of Read- 
ing 1.40 

Hummel and Hummel Materials and Methods in High 

School Agriculture .... 1.25 
Jessup and Coflfman . The Supervision of Arithmetic . i.io 
Johnson, Henry . . Teaching of History in Elemen- 
tary and Secondary Schools . 1.40 
Kahn and Klein . . Commercial Education, Principles 

and Methods in 1.40 

Kennedy Fundamentals in Methods . . 1.25 

Kerschensteiner . . The Idea of the Industrial School .50 
Kilpatrick, V. E. . . Departmental Teaching in Ele- 
mentary Schools 60 

Kilpatrick, W. B. Froebel's Kindergarten Principles 

Critically Examined .... .90 
Kirkpatrick, E. A. . . Fundamentals of Child Study , 0.00 

Lee Play in Education 1.50 

McKeever .... Training the Girl 1.50 

The Industrial Training of the Boy .50 
MacVannel .... Outline of a Course in the Philoso- 
phy of Education .90 

Monroe Principles of Secondary Education 1.90 

Text-Book in the History of Edu- 
cation 1.90 

Syllabus of a Course of Study on 
the History and Principles of 

Education 50 

Source Book in the History of Edu- 
cation for the Greek and Roman 
Period 2.25 



THE 


MACMILLAN COMPANY 


BOSTON 


NEW YORK ATLANTA 


CHICAGO 


SAN FRANCISCO DALLAS 



MODERN PEDAGOGY— Confmuct/ 



Monroe Brief Course in the History of 

Education $1.40 

Cyclopedia of Education, 5 Vols. 25.00 

O'Shea Dynamic Factors in Education . 1.25 

Linguistic Development in Educa- 
tion 1.25 

Pearson Vitalized School ...,,. 1.40 

Perry Management of a City School . 1.25 

Outlines of School Administration 1.40 
Pyle . ... The Examination of School Chil- 
dren 50 

Sachs The American Secondary School i.io 

Sisson Essentials of Character ... i.oo 

Smith All the Children of All the People 

(Teachers' Edition) . . . . i.io 

Sneath and Hodges . Moral Training in the School and 

Home 80 

Starch Educational Measurements . . 1.25 

Experiments in Educational Psy- 
chology .90 

Strayer A Brief Course in the Teaching 

Process 1.25 

StrayerandNorsworthy How to Teach 1.30 

Strayer and Thorndike Education Administration. Quan- 
titative Studies 2.00 

Taylor Handbook of Vocational Education i.oo 

Principles and Methods of Teach- 
ing Reading 90 

Thorndike .... Education: A First Book . . . 1.25 

Vandewalker. . . . Kindergarten, The, in American 

Education 1.25 

Ward The Montessori Method and the 

American School 1.25 

Wayland How to Teach American History i.io 



BOSTON 


THE 


MACMILLAN 

NEW YORK 


COMPANY 


ATLANTA 


CHICAGO 




SAN FRANCISCO 


1 


DALLAS 



